贫穷 pínqióng poor
poor; impoverished
How to remember 贫穷: 贫 poor + 穷 poor = poor.
Characters
How it is used
- Poor / in material poverty - 贫穷的家庭 (pínqióng de jiātíng) a poor family; 摆脱贫穷 (bǎituō pínqióng) to escape poverty.
- Standard word for economic poverty of people or regions; both adjective and noun.
- More formal than 穷 (qióng, poor, colloquial); the state/noun of poverty is often 贫困 (pínkùn) in policy talk.
Example sentences
- 他很贫穷。 Tā hěn pínqióng.He is very poor.
- 我更愿意贫穷而不是富裕。 Wǒ gèng yuànyì pínqióng ér búshì fùyù.I'd rather be poor than rich.
- 汤姆不知道贫穷的感受。 Tāngmǔ bù zhīdào pínqióng de gǎnshòu.Tom doesn't know what it's like to be poor.