挣扎 zhēngzhá to struggle
How to remember 挣扎: 挣 to struggle + 扎 to bind = to struggle.
Characters
How it is used
- Desperate thrashing to free oneself, or a painful fight to survive - 他在贫困线上挣扎 (tā zài pínkùn xiàn shàng zhēngzhá) he struggles at the poverty line.
- Not 奋斗 (fèndòu, strive toward a goal): 挣扎 is effort against something dragging you down, not ambition.
- Note the reading - 扎 is zhá here, not zhā. Fixed phrase 垂死挣扎 (chuísǐ zhēngzhá) death throes, last-ditch struggle.
Example sentences
- 我挣扎着挤出地铁。 Wǒ zhēngzhá zhe jǐchū dìtiě.I struggled to get out of the subway.