困難
こんなん · konnan
Difficulty, hardship, trouble, distress
- infeasibility, inability (to carry out)
Other ways to say “difficulty” in Japanese →
high first, then falls · what is pitch accent?
How it’s used
Use 困難 in formal or written Japanese for serious, objective difficulty, not casual everyday troubles.
Example sentences
この問題は非常に困難です。
This problem is extremely difficult.
Nihoner
困難を乗り越えて成功した。
He overcame difficulties and succeeded.
Nihoner
彼は、困難をものともせずに、挑戦し続けた。
かれは、こんなんをものともせずに、ちょうせんしつづけた。
He continued to challenge, undaunted by difficulties.
Nihoner sentence bank
Say it out loud
Press the microphone and say 困難 (こんなん)
Your browser’s speech recognition checks whether it understood you (in Chrome, Google processes the audio). Nihoner doesn’t record anything.
Do you really know it?
Learn its family in 60 seconds
6 words that share a kanji with 困難. Tap each card — then save only the ones that are new to you.
Your memory hook
Link the sound or the kanji to something you already know — a personal hook is one of the fastest ways to make a word stick. It’s saved to your free account with the word.
Kanji in this word
Can you write it? Draw kanji from memory →
Words that share a kanji
Questions
What does 困難 mean?
Difficulty, hardship, trouble, distress. It can also mean: infeasibility, inability (to carry out).
How do you pronounce 困難?
こんなん (konnan). Pitch accent: atamadaka — high first, then falls. Press Listen above to hear it.
What JLPT level is 困難?
JLPT N2 — upper intermediate. See the JLPT N2 guide.
How do I remember 困難?
Say it out loud with an example sentence, test yourself above, then save it to your deck: Nihoner brings it back just before you would forget it (spaced repetition).
Save your words
Create a free account and they will be waiting in your review deck — Nihoner brings each one back right before you would forget it.
Free · no card · your words are kept