= ku + Ø3
bitter / hardship / pain / to suffer / to bring suffering to / painstakingly
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How to pronounce 苦

MandarinBanana teaches pronunciation with the Marilyn Method: every Pinyin syllable is one initial plus one final, the initial becomes a person, an animal or a deity, and the final becomes a place in your memory palace — with the tone deciding which part of that place the scene happens in. Remember the little story below for each half and the whole syllable comes back with them.

= ku initial

K is for Karl Koala.

By Matthias • updated 3 months ago
+ Ø3 final

In the space station’s living room.

By Matthias • updated 5 months ago

苦 character breakdown

Chinese characters are built out of smaller characters. Each component carries a mnemonic symbol - one concrete object that stands in for it - and a mnemonic story hands those objects to the person and the place that stand for the pronunciation. Learn a component once and every character that reuses it gets easier.

Component Translations
cǎo = c + ao3
grass radical 草字頭兒|草字头儿[cao3 zi4 tou2 r5]
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= gu + Ø3
surname Gu
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= gu + Ø3
ancient / old / paleo-
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Characters with 苦 as component

= hu + Ø4
(tree)
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= ku + Ø3
broken utensil
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Words with 苦

show 214 more
chinaberry (Melia azedarach)
to entreat piteously / to implore

Sentences with 苦

苦 currently does not appear in any sentence.

Want to remember 苦 for good?

Make it your learning target and MandarinBanana works out the shortest route to it: the two sounds its syllable is built from, then the components of the character itself, one short step at a time. No account needed to start.

bitter / hardship / pain / to suffer / to bring suffering to / painstakingly

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