苦不堪言

kǔ bù kān yán

suffering beyond words; utterly wretched

Character by character

苦kǔ
bitter

不bù
not

堪kān
bear

言yán
say

这里的夏天又湿又热，没有空调的人家真是苦不堪言。

Summers here are hot and humid, and households without air conditioning are utterly miserable.

Tone: neutral.

Another 堪, “can bear”: so bitter it cannot be put into words. Often with 让 or 令: 噪音让居民苦不堪言. Stronger than 很辛苦; used in speech and writing.

Learn this in Lesson 48 · HSK 5–6: 鸡娃与双减 (Education pressure and the tutoring ban)

A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.