---
title: "Jiannan Meaning: 艰难 (jiānnán) Means “difficult”"
description: "艰难 (traditional 艱難, jiānnán) means “difficult; hard”. Hear its tones, see what 艰 and 难 each mean and a real sentence that uses it."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/jiannan"
published: "2026-10-21"
updated: "2026-11-06"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

[What does it mean in Chinese?](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning)

# What does 艰难 mean?

猫头鹰māotóuyīngowl

艰难 jiānnán

## difficult; hard

## Its characters

1. 艰 jiān difficult
2. 难 nán difficult

## In a sentence

那几年他们的生活很艰难。 Life was very hard for them in those years.

[More about 艰难](https://mandarinthewild.com/words/%E8%89%B0%E9%9A%BE)

## More words with 艰 or 难

- [艰苦 jiānkǔ](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/jianku)
- [困难 kùnnan](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/kunnan)
- [难道 nándào](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/nandao)
- [难得 nándé](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/nande)
- [难点 nándiǎn](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/nandian)
- [难度 nándù](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/nandu)
- [难怪 nánguài](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/nanguai)
- [难过 nánguò](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/nanguo)
- [难看 nánkàn](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/nankan)
- [难免 nánmiǎn](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/nanmian)

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