磨 mó / mò — to sharpen; to delay; hardship; to grind; to rub; grindstone
要把刀磨快，才好切菜。Yào bǎ dāo mó kuài, cái hǎo qiē cài.Sharpen the knife so it cuts vegetables well.
Common words: 折磨 (zhé mó)、琢磨 (zhuó mó)、磨合 (mó hé)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "hardship"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "hardship", including 磨 (mó / mò), 艰 (jiān). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms, common words…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "hardship" covers 2 different Chinese characters — 磨 (mó / mò), 艰 (jiān) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 2 characters do not share a sound — their readings span mó, mò, jiān — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 磨 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 磨 mó / mòto sharpen; to delay; hardship; to grind; to rub; grindstoneUseful words: 折磨, 琢磨
- 艰 jiāndifficult; hard; hardshipUseful words: 艰难, 艰苦
Common words for these 2 "hardship" characters
Anchor each of these 2 characters in a word you can picture — start with 磨 (mó / mò) — so "hardship" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 2 ways to say "hardship".
艰 jiān — difficult; hard; hardship
经过艰苦的努力，他们终于完成了任务。Jīng guò jiān kǔ de nǔ lì, tā men zhōng yú wán chéng le rèn wu.After hard efforts, they finally completed the task.
Common words: 艰难 (jiān nán)、艰苦 (jiān kǔ)、艰巨 (jiān jù)
All 2 characters
Open 磨、艰 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.