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A2 Intermediate Sentence Structure

How to Say “Hard to Do” with 难 (nán)

难 (nán) means “difficult,” but the structure surprises English speakers: it goes right BEFORE the verb — 这个字很难写 (“this character is hard to write”), not “…hard to-write” with a linker. Attach it to a sense verb and it means a bad experience: 难吃 (“tastes bad”), 难听 (“sounds awful”), 难看 (“ugly”).

Why this trips learners up

难 (nán) is the adjective “difficult,” and the pattern is tidy once you see it: Subject + (很) 难 + Verb = “[something] is hard to [verb].” 这个字很难写 = “this character is hard to write,” 他的名字很难记 = “his name is hard to remember,” 这种药现在很难买 = “this medicine is hard to get right now.” Notice the order: 难 sits directly before the verb it describes, with nothing in between — no “to,” no linking word. English “hard to write” becomes the two-character chunk 难写, in that order.

The same word has a second, sneakier job. Glue 难 to a sense verb — 吃 (eat/taste), 喝 (drink), 听 (hear), 看 (look), 闻 (smell) — and it stops meaning “hard to” and starts meaning “a bad sensory experience”: 难吃 = “tastes bad,” 难喝 = “tastes bad” (of drinks), 难听 = “sounds awful,” 难看 = “ugly,” 难闻 = “smells bad.” So 这个汤太难喝了 is “this soup tastes terrible,” not “this soup is hard to drink.” These are fixed words — learn them as their own little vocabulary set, with the opposite formed by 好 (好吃 “delicious,” 好听 “lovely to hear,” 好看 “good-looking”).

Two quick housekeeping points. To make it stronger or weaker, just put a degree adverb in front — 有点儿难 (“a bit hard”), 太难了 (“too hard”), 越来越难 (“harder and harder”). And to say something is not hard, negate with 不, never 没: 这门课不难学 = “this course isn’t hard to learn.” 难 describes a quality, not a finished action, so 没 never touches it.

The structure

Subject 难 nán Verb
Colour key

Each colour marks one grammatical role — and the same colour means the same role on every page in the Lab.

Pattern Subject Verb Time Negation Adverb Function word

Examples in context

Real-world sentences, easiest first. Toggle pinyin or the translation, tap any word to see its role, or play the audio.

Tap a word to see its grammatical role.

zhège zì 这个字 Subject hěn 很 Adverb nán 难 Pattern xiě 写 Verb

This character is hard to write.

tā de míngzi 他的名字 Subject hěn 很 Adverb nán 难 Pattern jì 记 Verb

His name is hard to remember.

zhège wèntí 这个问题 Subject yǒudiǎnr 有点儿 Adverb nán 难 Pattern huídá 回答 Verb

This question is a bit hard to answer.

zhè zhǒng yào 这种药 Subject xiànzài 现在 Time hěn 很 Adverb nán 难 Pattern mǎi 买 Verb

This kind of medicine is hard to get right now.

zhège tāng 这个汤 Subject tài 太 Adverb nán 难 Pattern hē 喝 Verb le 了 Function word

This soup tastes really awful (难喝 = “tastes bad,” not “hard to drink”).

tā 他 Subject chànggē 唱歌 Verb zhēn de 真的 Adverb hěn 很 Adverb nán 难 Pattern tīng 听 Verb

His singing really sounds terrible (难听).

shìzhōngxīn de hǎo fángzi 市中心的好房子 Subject yuèláiyuè 越来越 Adverb nán 难 Pattern zū 租 Verb le 了 Function word

Good apartments downtown are getting harder and harder to rent (越来越难).

qíshí 其实 Adverb zhè mén kè 这门课 Subject bù 不 Negation nán 难 Pattern xué 学 Verb zhǐshì 只是 Adverb yào 要 Function word duō 多 Adverb liànxí 练习 Verb

Actually this course isn’t hard to learn — you just need to practice a lot (不难).

Common mistakes

Avoid: 中文学很难。 zhōngwén xué hěn nán.
Say this: 中文很难学。 zhōngwén hěn nán xué.

Why it happens: 难 comes BEFORE the verb, not after it. “Chinese is hard to learn” is 中文很难学 (the verb 学 follows 难) — never 中文学很难. Think of 难 + verb as one tight chunk: 难学, 难写, 难记.

Avoid: 这个螃蟹很难吃，因为壳太硬。 zhège pángxiè hěn nán chī, yīnwèi ké tài yìng.
Say this: 这个螃蟹很难剥，因为壳太硬。 zhège pángxiè hěn nán bō, yīnwèi ké tài yìng.

Why it happens: 难吃/难喝/难听/难看/难闻 only mean “bad-tasting / bad-sounding / ugly,” NOT “physically hard to eat/hear.” 这个螃蟹很难吃 means the crab tastes bad. If you mean it’s awkward to deal with, attach 难 to the actual action — 很难剥 (“hard to peel”) — or use 麻烦 (“troublesome”).

Avoid: 这个字没难写。 zhège zì méi nán xiě.
Say this: 这个字不难写。 zhège zì bù nán xiě.

Why it happens: 难 is a stative adjective, so you negate it with 不, never 没. “Not hard to write” is 不难写; 没难写 is wrong. 没 negates completed actions and 有 — it never negates a quality like 难.

Compare & contrast

难 + Verb — hard / unpleasant to…好 + Verb — easy / pleasant to…The difference
这个字很难写。zhège zì hěn nán xiě.这个字很好写。zhège zì hěn hǎo xiě.这个字很难写 = “this character is hard to write”; swap 难 for 好 and 这个字很好写 = “this character is easy to write.” Same slot, opposite pole.
这首歌很难听。zhè shǒu gē hěn nán tīng.这首歌很好听。zhè shǒu gē hěn hǎo tīng.这首歌很难听 = “this song sounds awful”; 这首歌很好听 = “this song sounds lovely.” With sense verbs, 难 = the bad version, 好 = the good version.
Rule of thumb难 and 好 share the same slot right before the verb and mark opposite poles: 难 = “hard to / bad to [sense],” 好 = “easy to / good to [sense].” 难写/好写 (hard/easy to write), 难听/好听 (ugly/lovely to hear), 难看/好看 (ugly/good-looking). To flip the meaning, just swap the one character.

Try it yourself

Say “This name is hard to remember.” — put 难 right before the verb and tap the words into order.

Related patterns

的的 (de): How to Describe Nouns with Adjectives

难 is an adjective; when you put an adjective in FRONT of a noun (难题, “a hard problem”) you often need 的 — that page covers the noun side of describing.

 真真 (zhēn): How to Say “Really” / “So…!”

Stack a degree adverb in front for emphasis — 真难 (“really hard”), the same slot as 很难 / 太难了.

 有点有点 (yǒudiǎn): How to Say “A Bit Too…” (a Complaint)

有点儿难 (“a bit hard”) is the most common way to soften 难 — 有点儿 carries a slight negative, which 难 fits perfectly.

 不太不太 (bù tài): How to Say “Not Very” / “Not Really”

The polite way to say something isn’t very hard: 不太难 (“not too hard”) — the 不 negation 难 takes (never 没).

 看不懂How to Say “I Can’t Understand” (看不懂, 听不懂)

难懂 (“hard to understand,” a quality) sits right next to 看不懂 (“I can't understand it,” my ability) — the comprehension pair.

 好不容易How to Say “With Great Difficulty” with 好不容易 (hǎo bù róngyì)

From “hard” to “finally managed.” 难 rates a task as difficult (这件事很难); 好不容易 is the idiom for pulling it off anyway, “finally did it, and it was a struggle” (我好不容易才做完). 难 describes the difficulty; 好不容易 narrates the hard-won result.
Quick reference card
Merry Mandarin How to Say “Hard to Do” with 难 (nán) grammar.merrymandarin.com

A pocket summary — print it and keep it by your desk.

Structure
Subject + 难 + Verb
Example
这个字很难写
This character is hard to write.
Watch out
✗ 中文学很难。  →  ✓ 中文很难学。