可怜

• Pinyin: kě lián
• Hanzi breakdown: 可 = 口 + 丁, indicating ability; 怜 = 忄(heart) + 令 (order), meaning to have compassion

Meaning

Pitiful; pathetic; to pity. Describing someone worthy of sympathy or the act of feeling sympathy.

Can function as an adjective (pitiful, pathetic) or a verb (to pity). Describes situations or people that evoke compassion. Can be used genuinely or sometimes sarcastically. Also appears in the idiom 可怜巴巴 (pitifully).

Examples

1. 那只流浪猫看起来真可怜，我想收养它。 That stray cat looks so pitiful; I want to adopt it.
2. 她可怜那个孤儿，决定帮助他完成学业。 She pitied the orphan and decided to help him finish his education.
3. 别装可怜了，大家都知道你在演戏。 Stop acting pitiful; everyone knows you're putting on an act.

Usage Guide

Context: everyday, emotional, descriptive

Tone: sympathetic

Do Say

• 真可怜，他才十岁就没了父母。(How pitiful, he lost his parents at only ten years old.)
• 你别可怜我，我没事。(Don't pity me; I'm fine.)

Don't Say

• 你很可怜完成了任务。(可怜 doesn't work as an adverb for completing tasks — wrong usage)

Origin & History

可 (kě, able/worth) + 怜 (lián, pity/sympathize). Together they mean 'worthy of pity' or 'to feel pity for.'

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal