何苦

hé kǔ

HSK 3.0 Level 7 Adverb Rare

Definitions

1 item

to ask for trouble (idiom)

何苦 implies bringing trouble upon oneself; 自讨苦吃 is a set phrase meaning 'to ask for trouble'.

1 item

there is no need

Both 何苦 and 何必 are used in rhetorical questions to mean 'why bother', but 何苦 carries a stronger sense of unnecessary suffering or hardship.

何苦 must appear before the main verb or clause it modifies, unlike English 'why bother' which often comes at the end.

1 shown

你何苦为这点小事生气呢？

Why bother getting angry over such a small thing?

AI-generated examples are marked with this icon.

bitter

what