difficult, impossible, trouble, accident

About this kanji

The kanji 難 (nan) primarily means "difficult" or "hard." It is often used as a noun and belongs to various compounds that describe challenges or problems. For example, 困難 (konnan) means "difficulty," while 難民 (nanmin) refers to "refugees," indicating people facing tough situations. Another compound, 難色 (nanshoku), represents "disapproval," often showing a negative reaction. The kun'yomi readings, such as むずかしい, also highlight the basic sense of difficulty in everyday conversation. One note to remember is that 難 can also imply something that is impossible or very troublesome, thus encompassing a broader range of challenging situations.

Example sentences

• この問題は非常に難しい。

  This problem is very difficult.

Meanings across languages

English

difficult, impossible, trouble, accident, defect

Tiếng Việt

khó khăn

日本語

難しい

한국어

어렵다

中文

困难

id

sulit

th

ยาก

es

difícil

fr

difficulté

de

schwierig

pt

difícil

Common compounds

• 困難こんなんdifficulty, hardship, trouble
• 難色なんしょくdisapproval, reluctance, unwillingness
• 難民なんみんrefugee, displaced person, person inconvenienced by (lack of something, etc.)
• 難問なんもんperplexity, difficult question, difficult problem
• 非難ひなんcriticism, blame, censure
• 避難ひなんtaking refuge, finding shelter, evacuation
• 難しいむずかしいdifficult, hard, troublesome
• 避難民ひなんみんevacuees, displaced persons, refugees