苦 (kǔ) — HSK 4 Recognition Character: Meaning, Radical & Stroke Order
Pronunciation & meaning
Pronounced .
- bitter
- hardship
- suffering
Stroke Order & Practice
Click Animate to see the correct stroke order, then Practice to trace it yourself.
Decomposition
苦 breaks down into 2 components arranged as Top + Bottom. Recognizing the components makes the character easier to remember and write.
Radical
The radical of 苦 is 艹 — meaning grass. Radicals are the indexing components used in Chinese dictionaries; they often hint at a character's broad meaning category.
Other HSK 4 characters that share this radical: 获落葡萄艺著.
How the character is built
苦 is a phono-semantic compound. The semantic component 艹 (grass) carries the meaning, while the phonetic component 古 originally indicated the sound.
HSK 4 Words Containing 苦
Seen in the Real Exams / 真题例句
苦 appears in 36 questions across the 19 mock & official HSK 4 exams on this site. Real exam sentences using it:
Tasks Featuring 苦 / 相关任务
Words containing 苦 appear in these official HSK 4 task scenarios — study the character in context:
FAQ
What does 苦 mean in Chinese?
苦 (kǔ) means bitter; hardship, suffering. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).
How many strokes does 苦 have?
苦 is written in 8 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 苦?
The radical of 苦 is 艹 (grass). Other HSK 4 characters with the same radical include 获, 落, 葡, 萄, 艺.
What is the pinyin for 苦?
苦 is pronounced kǔ.
What HSK 4 words use 苦?
In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 苦 appears in 2 words, including 苦 (kǔ), 辛苦 (xīnkǔ). See the full list above.