1. causing physical pain or discomfort
引起身體疼痛或不適的
The injection was painful but quick.
打針很痛，但很快就結束了。
She has a painful cut on her finger.
她手指上有一個很痛的傷口。
Painful Meaning（定義、用法、例句與發音）
painful
adjective
快速理解
What does "Painful" mean?What are 2-3 core uses of "Painful"?
形容身體或精神上感到疼痛、不適，或指過程、經歷令人難受。
- 1
身體疼痛
EN: causing physical pain or discomfort
翻譯: 引起身體疼痛或不適的
- 2
精神痛苦
EN: causing emotional distress or sadness
翻譯: 造成情緒困擾或悲傷的
- 3
困難/不愉快
EN: unpleasant, difficult, or requiring a lot of effort
翻譯: 令人不快的、困難的或費力的
小提醒：注意：'painful' 主要描述「引起疼痛或痛苦的事物」，而非描述人的感受。若要說「我感到疼痛」，應說 'I am in pain'，而非 'I am painful'。
發音（How to Pronounce "Painful" in English）
How to pronounce "Painful" in English?"Painful" US vs UK pronunciation
點擊下方的 US / UK 按鈕可播放發音。
Real-life Examples of "Painful" from YouTube Videos
Mark Zuckerberg On Yahoo's Billion Dollar Offer
Y Combinator
“I think that that's um, I, I get that, but you know that I think that the fact that I didn't communicate very well about what we were trying to do caused um, caused this huge tension, and the part that was painful wasn't wasn't turning down the offer, it was the fact that after that um, huge amounts of the company quit because they didn't believe in in what we were, what we were doing, right?”
(1 out of 21)
Definitions（定義）
What are the definitions of "Painful"?How does "Painful" change by context?
2. causing emotional distress or sadness
令人感到痛苦或悲傷的
It was a painful memory to recall.
那是一段回想起來令人痛苦的回憶。
The breakup was a painful experience for him.
分手對他來說是一次痛苦的經歷。
3. difficult, unpleasant, or requiring a lot of effort
困難的、令人不快的或需要大量努力的
The decision to downsize was a painful one for the company.
裁員的決定對公司來說是一個痛苦的抉擇。
Watching his slow progress was painful.
看著他緩慢的進展令人難受。
4. very bad or poor in quality
品質非常差或糟糕的
His singing was so painful that everyone covered their ears.
他的歌聲難聽到每個人都摀住了耳朵。
The team's performance was painful to watch.
這支隊伍的表現糟糕到讓人看不下去。
Grammar & Patterns（句型）
What are common sentence patterns for "Painful"?How to make natural sentences with "Painful"?
| Pattern | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| painful + noun | 令人痛苦的... | The breakup was a painful experience. (那次分手是一段痛苦的經歷。) |
| It is painful to + V | ...是痛苦的 | It is painful to watch him struggle. (看著他掙扎是很痛苦的。) |
| find it painful + to V | 覺得...很痛苦 | She found it painful to talk about the past. (她覺得談論過去很痛苦。) |
| physically/mentally painful | 身體上/精神上痛苦的 | The recovery process was physically painful. (康復過程在身體上是痛苦的。) |
| too painful + to V | 太痛苦而無法... | The memory is too painful to discuss. (那段記憶太痛苦，無法討論。) |
用法說明
How is "Painful" different from similar structures?What usage mistakes are common with "Painful"?
painful doing vs painful to do
- painful doing 通常用於描述一個正在進行或習慣性的活動本身是痛苦的。焦點在於活動的性質。
- painful to do 則強調執行某個特定動作的過程或結果是痛苦的。焦點在於「去做」這個行為。
- 當主語是非人稱的「it」（如 It is painful...）時，後面幾乎總是接 to do 的形式。
- 在描述身體某部位疼痛時，常用 painful to + 動作 的結構，例如 "painful to move"。 EN: Listening to his excuses was painful. 翻譯: 聽他的藉口真是令人痛苦。
EN:It was painful to listen to his excuses.
翻譯:去聽他的藉口是件痛苦的事。
EN:The recovery process is painful but necessary.
翻譯:復原過程雖然痛苦但是必要的。
EN:The wound is still painful to touch.
翻譯:傷口碰到還是會痛。
總結建議
一般情況下，描述抽象或持續性的痛苦感受用 "painful doing"，而描述執行具體動作時的痛苦則用 "painful to do"。
易混淆對比
What is the difference between "Painful" and similar words?How to choose "Painful" vs alternatives?
painful vs sore
painful 泛指各種疼痛，程度可輕可重；sore 通常指因發炎、過度使用或受傷引起的局部痠痛或隱痛。
painful vs agonizing
painful 是描述疼痛的通用詞；agonizing 強調極度、折磨人的劇痛，程度遠超 painful。
painful vs hurtful
painful 可描述身體或情感上的痛苦；hurtful 專指言語或行為造成的情感傷害。
口語用法
How is "Painful" used in spoken English?What is the spoken vs formal difference for "Painful"?
引述
用於引述他人或自己說過的話，常與引述動詞如 say、tell 連用。
EN: She said the whole process was really painful.
翻譯: 她說整個過程真的很痛苦。
EN:He told me it was a painful decision to make.
翻譯:他告訴我那是個痛苦的決定。
語氣強調
在口語中，常與 so、really、absolutely 等副詞連用，以加強語氣，表達強烈感受。
EN: Waiting for the results was so painful.
翻譯: 等待結果真是煎熬。
EN:That criticism was absolutely painful to hear.
翻譯:那個批評聽起來實在令人難受。
停頓填充
在思考或尋找合適詞語時，可作為停頓填充語，表示「令人難受的」、「痛苦的」。 EN: It was just... painful, you know, to see him like that. 翻譯: 那真是... 痛苦的，你知道，看到他那個樣子。
EN:The meeting was, uh, painful, to be honest.
翻譯:那個會議，呃，說實話，很折磨人。
正式寫作注意：在正式或學術寫作中，應避免使用過於口語化的強調詞（如 so painful）或停頓填充用法。建議使用更精確、客觀的詞彙，例如 extremely distressing、caused considerable discomfort 等。
常見短語
What common collocations use "Painful"?What fixed phrases with "Painful" should I remember?
painful memory
painful + noun
痛苦的記憶
painful experience
painful + noun
痛苦的經歷
painful to watch
painful + to-infinitive
令人不忍直視；看著都覺得痛苦
painful reminder
painful + noun
痛苦的提醒
painfully obvious
painfully + adjective
明顯到令人難受；顯而易見的
painful decision
painful + noun
痛苦的決定
painful process
painful + noun
痛苦的過程
painful truth
painful + noun
痛苦的事實
常見錯誤
What are common mistakes with "Painful"?Which "Painful" sentences look correct but are wrong?
×It is a painful news.
✓It is painful news.
在英文中，'news' 是不可數名詞，前面不能加 'a'。
×My leg is paining.
✓My leg is painful. / My leg hurts.
'Pain' 作為動詞時，主語通常是造成疼痛的原因（如傷口），而不是感到疼痛的身體部位。描述身體部位疼痛時，應使用形容詞 'painful' 或動詞 'hurt'。
×It was a very pain experience.
✓It was a very painful experience.
'Pain' 是名詞，不能直接修飾名詞 'experience'。必須使用其形容詞形式 'painful'。
×It's painful to see him leaving.
✓It's painful to see him leave.
在 'It is + adjective + to + verb' 的結構中，若主詞 'It' 是形式主詞，真正的主詞是後面的不定詞片語，則不定詞應使用原形動詞（to leave），而非進行式（to leaving）。
×He spoke in a painful voice.
✓He spoke in a pained voice.
'Painful' 主要描述「引起疼痛或痛苦的事物」。描述聲音、表情等「顯露出痛苦」時，更常用 'pained'。
×The process is painful slow.
✓The process is painfully slow.
修飾形容詞 'slow' 時，應使用副詞 'painfully'，而非形容詞 'painful'。'Painfully' 在這裡有「極為、非常」的強調意味。
詞形變化
What are the word forms of "Painful"?What are tense/participle forms of "Painful"?