難道

See also: 难道

Chinese

		disaster; distress; to scold disaster; distress; to scold; difficult (to...); problem; difficulty; difficult; not good	direction; way; method direction; way; method; road; path; principle; truth; reason; skill; Tao (of Taoism); a measure word; to say; to speak; to talk
trad. (難道)		難	道
simp. (难道)		难	道

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “A compound meaning '[Is it a] difficult way'?”)

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): nándào

(Zhuyin): ㄋㄢˊ ㄉㄠˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): naan⁴ dou⁶
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): lân-tō͘ / lân-tō
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶ne-dau

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)
  - Hanyu Pinyin: nándào
  - Zhuyin: ㄋㄢˊ ㄉㄠˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: nándào
  - Wade–Giles: nan²-tao⁴
  - Yale: nán-dàu
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: nandaw
  - Palladius: наньдао (nanʹdao)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /nän³⁵ tɑʊ̯⁵¹/
  - Homophones:
    [Show/Hide]
    ^edit
    ^edit
    難道 / 难道
    難點 / 难点
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
  - Jyutping: naan⁴ dou⁶
  - Yale: nàahn douh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: naan⁴ dou⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: nan⁴ dou⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /naːn²¹ tou̯²²/
  - Homophones:
    ^edit
    ^edit
    難度 / 难度
    難道 / 难道
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lân-tō͘
  - Tâi-lô: lân-tōo
  - Phofsit Daibuun: lando
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /lan²⁴⁻²² tɔ⁴¹/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lân-tō
  - Tâi-lô: lân-tō
  - Phofsit Daibuun: landoi
  - IPA (Xiamen): /lan²⁴⁻²² to²²/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /lan¹³⁻²² to²²/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ⁶ne-dau
  - MiniDict: ne^去 dau
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³ne-dau
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /ne²² dɔ⁴⁴/

Adverb

難道

(rhetorical question) Indicates a rhetorical question: surely it doesn't mean that...; is it possible that...
這難道不是事實嗎？ [MSC, trad.]
这难道不是事实吗？ [MSC, simp.]
Zhè nándào bùshì shìshí ma? [Pinyin]
Isn't this true?

外國人能做到，難道中國人就做不到嗎？ [MSC, trad.]
外国人能做到，难道中国人就做不到吗？ [MSC, simp.]
Wàiguórén néng zuò dào, nándào Zhōngguórén jiù zuòbudào ma? [Pinyin]
Foreigners can do it; can't the Chinese people do it?
- 難道你真的大膽妄為，連聖旨都不顧了嗎。 [MSC, trad.]
  难道你真的大胆妄为，连圣旨都不顾了吗。 [MSC, simp.]
  From: Justice Bao
  Nándào nǐ zhēn de dàdǎn wàngwèi, lián shèngzhǐ dōu bùgù le ma. [Pinyin]
  Don't tell me that you really dare take action arbitrarily without even caring about the royal decree at all, do you?

Usage notes

Particles like 嗎／吗 (ma), 不成 (bùchéng), etc. are often placed at the end of the sentence.

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 難道 (“could it be that; is it possible that”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		莫非, 豈
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		莫非, 豈, 難道, 莫不是
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	難道, 難不成, 甭
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	難道, 難不成
Central Plains Mandarin	Xuzhou	難說
Cantonese	Guangzhou	唔通
	Hong Kong	唔通
	Taishan	唔成, 敢係, 唔得旨, 毋旨, 毋旨估
Hakka	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	無成, 敢講, 敢係
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	無成, 敢講, 敢係
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	無成, 敢講, 敢係
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	無成, 敢講, 敢會, 敢係
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	無成, 毋成, 敢講, 敢係
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	無敢, 敢講, 敢會, 敢係
Southern Min	Xiamen	敢, 總無
	Quanzhou	敢, 總無, 攏無
	Zhangzhou	敢, 總無
	Tainan	敢
	Manila (Hokkien)	敢
	Shantou	未是
	Jieyang	未是, 敢, 敢是
Puxian Min	Putian	乜然, 總無
Puxian Min	Xianyou	乜然, 總無
Wu	Shanghai	只勿
Wu	Shanghai (Chongming)	難算得
Xiang	Changsha	冇過