Chinese Printables Formerly Mandarin Poster
8 strokes
Character #595 · The First 1000

kǔ

bitter

bitter; hardship; pain; to suffer; to bring suffering to; painstakingly

Strokes
8
Both scripts
苦
Poster cell
G22

简 = 繁苦 is the same in both scripts. The switch changes the example words.

01 常用词语

Common words with

  • tòngkǔ pain
  • xīnkǔ exhausting
  • jiānkǔ difficult
  • kǔxiào to force a smile
  • kǔnàn suffering
  • kǔnǎo vexed
02 练习纸
Character practice sheet: nine rows, each with a model box, pinyin lines and eleven practice squares
Free printable · One page

Practice writing 苦

Write 苦 in the grey model box at the start of each row and its pinyin, kǔ, on the lines above. Then copy it across the row, following the stroke order above.

A4 PDF US Letter PDF
Nine rows of field-grid squares, 15 mm. More about this sheet
03 千字海报
Cell G22 · 28 × 36 grid

苦 is #595 on The First 1000 poster.

All 1,000 characters, printable at home.

See the poster
04 问答

Quick answers

What does 苦 mean in English?
苦 (kǔ) means "bitter": bitter; hardship; pain; to suffer; to bring suffering to; painstakingly.
How do you pronounce 苦?
苦 is pronounced kǔ in pinyin, with the third (dipping) tone. In Zhuyin (bopomofo) it is written ㄎㄨˇ.
How many strokes does 苦 have?
苦 has 8 strokes, in both simplified and traditional Chinese.
Is 苦 the same in traditional Chinese?
Yes. 苦 is written the same way in simplified and traditional Chinese.
What are common words with 苦?
Common words that use 苦 include 痛苦 (tòngkǔ, pain), 辛苦 (xīnkǔ, exhausting), 艰苦 (jiānkǔ, difficult), 苦笑 (kǔxiào, to force a smile).
How common is 苦?
苦 is number 595 of the 1,000 most common Chinese characters, in cell G22 of The First 1000 poster.

Definitions and word glosses adapted from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Stroke data from Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License), animated with Hanzi Writer.