苦 (kǔ) · bitter (taste)

Meanings

1 bitter (taste)
2 hardship; suffering
3 painstakingly; hard

Characters

苦

kǔ

bitter; suffering; hardship

Examples

HSK 1

他吃了很多苦。

Tā chī le hěnduō kǔ.

He endured a lot of hardship.

HSK 2

这个药很苦。

Zhège yào hěn kǔ.

This medicine is very bitter.

HSK 4

苦练了三年钢琴。

Kǔliàn le sānnián gāngqín.

Practiced piano painstakingly for three years.

Tips

usage

苦 is one of the five basic tastes in Chinese (酸甜苦辣咸). Common compounds: 痛苦 (painful), 辛苦 (hard work), 苦恼 (distressed), 吃苦 (endure hardship).

culture

吃苦耐劳 (chī kǔ nài láo, able to endure hardship) is a highly valued quality in Chinese culture. Parents often say 先苦后甜 (first bitter, then sweet).

Components

radical

艹 cǎo

grass; plant (top radical)

Grass radical on top - also 苦's indexing radical. The original meaning is botanical: a bitter herb (苦菜, 'bitter vegetable'). From the literal taste came the metaphorical 'hardship, suffering.' Same radical in 茶 (tea - also bitter), 草, 花, 药 - every plant lives here.

phonetic

古 gǔ

ancient; old

Bottom 古 supplies the sound: gǔ → kǔ with regular g-/k- velar alternation. Same phonetic anchors 故 (gù), 估 (gū), 姑 (gū), 枯 (kū), 胡 (hú) - recognise the 古 cluster and a wide net of g-/k-/h- readings opens up.