Pinyin: kǔ

English: bitter, hardship

HSK Level: 4 (526 words at this level)

Tone Pattern: 3rd (dipping)

When to use: Use 苦 when you want to talk about bitter. This word appears in everyday Mandarin conversations and is part of the HSK 4 core vocabulary of 526 words.

The character 苦 is part of the HSK 4 vocabulary list with 526 words. Mastering this word helps build the foundation for reading, writing, and speaking Mandarin Chinese.

This character has a specific stroke order and radical decomposition. AI Lingo Chat's application includes animated stroke order diagrams and native-speaker audio for all 3587 words across all 6 HSK levels.