苦kǔ
hardship / bitterness. 8 strokes, radical 艹, first met in HSK 3.
How to write 苦
Strokes 1–3 write 艹, then strokes 4–8 write 古.
Free, with no account: the app draws each stroke, then you write it and it says which stroke went wrong.
Print a 米字格 practice sheet for 苦 · the stroke-order rules
What 苦 is made of
艹 (cǎo, grass) and 古 (gǔ, old).
艹 carries the meaning — grass — and 古 carries the sound.
Words that use 苦
| 苦 | hardship / bitterness 身体或心里觉得难受、不好受 老环卫工从来不怕吃苦受累。The old sanitation worker never fears hardship or fatigue. Lesson 307, 笃实守信与生态澄澈 · 故土炊烟与烟火长卷 · Hometown Memories & The Tapestry of Daily Life |
| 痛苦 | deep suffering, anguish 长时间让人难受的感觉 手术后的恢复过程带来不少痛苦。Recovering from surgery brought great suffering. Lesson 135, 身心感受 · 医疗健康与身心关怀 · Healthcare, Wellness & Body |
| 艰苦 | arduous, hard, tough conditions 形容条件恶劣、生活困顿 队员们面对艰苦的驻地条件。The workers faced arduous conditions at the outpost. Lesson 439, 砥砺克艰 · 笃志筑业与工巧开新 · Steadfast Craftsmanship & Grand Architecture |
| 辛苦 | hard work, toilsome 形容付出很多劳累和辛劳 邮递员不辞辛苦投递信件。The mail carrier delivered letters through great hard work. Lesson 505, 坚定信念 · 行稳致远与和衷共济 · Resilient Strides & Sincere Accord |
| 酸甜苦辣 | the joys and hardships of life 比喻生活中的各种复杂滋味 他们长谈求学路上酸甜苦辣。They talked at length about the ups and downs of student life. Lesson 488, 求索明思 · 安居乐业与厚积薄发 · Serene Industry & Striving Resilience |
Characters that share the sound part 古
Written with the same phonetic, so their readings tend to rhyme with each other.
More characters with the radical 艹
All 30 of them, and what the radical means, on the 艹 radical page.