苦
力

Bitter work in Chinese: 苦力 (kǔ lì)

kǔ lì

bitter work

HSK 3.0 Levels 7-91 example sentence

Definitions

  1. 1bitter work
  2. 2hard toil
  3. 3(loanword) coolie, unskilled Chinese laborer in colonial times

Stroke order

Watch how to write 苦力 stroke by stroke.

苦
力

Zhuyin

This word’s pronunciation in Bopomofo.

Learn how to read Zhuyin

ㄎㄨˇ

kǔ

ㄎ/ kㄨ/ uˇ/ third tone

ㄌㄧˋ

lì

ㄌ/ lㄧ/ iˋ/ fourth tone

Example sentences

See 苦力 used in real sentences with pinyin and English translations.

  • 他年轻时在码头做苦力谋生。

    tā nián qīng shí zài mǎ tóu zuò kǔ lì móu shēng。

    When he was young, he made a living doing hard labor at the docks.

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Related words

苦

kǔ

bitter

力

lì

power

努力

nǔ lì

to make an effort

力气

lì qi

strength

能力

néng lì

capability

辛苦

xīn kǔ

exhausting

压力

yā lì

pressure

艰苦

jiān kǔ

difficult

尽力

jìn lì

to strive one's hardest

精力

jīng lì

energy

刻苦

kè kǔ

hardworking

力量

lì liang

power

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Levels 7-9 vocabulary list

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