Quick answer
Learners most often meet 辛 in 辛苦, a word about difficulty and effort. In 辛苦了, the speaker recognizes another person's work or trouble. The compound matters more in conversation than the character alone.
Pinyin and pronunciation
xīn
What the character contributes
辛苦了 can sound appreciative or caring, especially after a demanding task. It is not a fixed replacement for 谢谢 in every situation.
Examples in context
今天忙了一整天，辛苦了。
Jīntiān máng le yì zhěng tiān, xīnkǔ le.
You've been busy all day. Thanks for your hard work.
你也辛苦了。
Nǐ yě xīnkǔ le.
You worked hard too.
Common mistakes
- Do not use the character 辛 alone as a conversational thank-you.
- Translate the whole phrase 辛苦了 according to the effort being recognized.
Related expressions
Sources and editorial note
These learning notes and examples are original project content. Compare dictionary senses with CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0).