难过
sad; upset
nánguò
What does 难过 mean?
难过 (nánguò) is the everyday adjective for 'sad,' 'upset,' or 'feeling bad' — used for moments of disappointment, grief, sympathy, or general emotional discomfort. Literally 'difficult to pass through' (难 'hard' + 过 'to pass'), it conveys a sense of having a hard time emotionally. Use 难过 when something has upset you: 听到这个消息我很难过 ('hearing this news, I feel really sad'). Like other adjectives, it needs a degree word in affirmative sentences: 很难过, 有点难过.
Two things English speakers should note. First, 难过 can describe both emotional sadness and physical discomfort — 我胃难过 means 'my stomach feels bad / queasy,' though for clearly physical discomfort 不舒服 is more common. Second, 难过 is less intense than 伤心 (shāngxīn, 'heartbroken'): you can be 难过 over a small disappointment, but 伤心 implies real grief.
Character breakdown
difficult; hard
to pass through; to spend (time)
Memory hook: Literally 'hard to pass through' — when you're so sad it's hard to get through the day, you're 难过.
Example sentences
听到这个消息，我很难过。
Tīng dào zhège xiāoxi, wǒ hěn nánguò.
I felt really sad when I heard this news.
neutral
别难过，一切都会好起来的。
Bié nánguò, yíqiè dōu huì hǎo qǐlái de.
Don't be sad, everything will get better.
spoken
她考试没考好，心里很难过。
Tā kǎoshì méi kǎo hǎo, xīnlǐ hěn nánguò.
She didn't do well on the exam and feels really down.
neutral
看到那只小狗，我有点难过。
Kàn dào nà zhī xiǎo gǒu, wǒ yǒu diǎn nánguò.
Seeing that little dog, I felt a bit sad.
spoken
他离开的时候，大家都很难过。
Tā líkāi de shíhou, dàjiā dōu hěn nánguò.
When he left, everyone was very sad.
neutral
Common phrases with 难过
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难过 appears in 3 podcast episodes at natural native speed, with full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.
Synonyms
伤心 ('hurt heart') is stronger than 难过 — closer to 'heartbroken' or 'devastated.' Use 伤心 for serious grief (a death, a breakup); 难过 for everyday disappointment or sympathy.
难受 covers physical discomfort ('I feel unwell') as well as emotional pain. 难过 leans emotional. For 'I feel sick,' say 我很难受; for 'I feel sad,' say 我很难过.
悲伤 is formal/literary 'sorrow,' used in writing, songs, and serious contexts.
Don't confuse 难过 with
难 alone means 'difficult' (这道题很难 'this problem is hard'). 难过 is the emotion 'sad.' Don't say 我很难 to mean 'I'm sad' — it sounds like 'I am difficult.'
难看 means 'ugly' (literally 'hard to look at'). 难过 means 'sad' (literally 'hard to pass through'). Same first character, opposite kind of feeling — one is about appearance, one is about emotion.
FAQ
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