i just realized i can’t explain this word in english, but it’s the same as まさか in japanese or 설마 in korean
#can someone explain 难道 to me?
slate fulcrum
brave halo
It means "surely it's impossible that..." or "is it possible that...": https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/難道
설마 means "surely" in the negative sense, i.e. "surely it doesn't mean that...": https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/설마
まさか means "inconceivably" (or also "surely" in the negative sense): https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/まさか
Let's break down the examples in Wiktionary.
这难道不是事实吗？
Without 难道, this only means "isn't this the truth?".
With 难道, it becomes a rhetorical question, meaning the speaker believes that this has to be the truth, so 难道 here means "surely it's impossible that...", i.e. "Surely it's impossible that this is not true?"
The next example is:
外国人能做到，难道中国人就做不到吗？
Without 难道, this is just: "If foreigners can do X, why can't the Chinese do X?" Usually, this question isn't rhetorical, and people will start looking for excuses as to why the Chinese can't do X.
With 难道, this means: "If foreigners can do X, then surely it's impossible that the Chinese can't do X?", which is a rhetorical question.
I'm asking you to compare the English definitions, which also explain what 难道 does.
karmic fossil
brave halo
You might want to review the definition of a rhetorical question: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhetorical_question
A rhetorical question is a question asked for a purpose other than to obtain information. In many cases it may be intended to start a discourse, or as a means of displaying or emphasizing the speaker's or author's opinion on a topic.
In other words, the speaker already has a strong opinion on a topic (in the examples above, the speaker thinks that something must be true, or that the Chinese can do X), and is only asking the question to deliver that opinion (i.e. they actually mean "Of course that's true!" or "Of course the Chinese can do X!").
It's ok, it's usually used by people with strong opinions.
你委屈他到让他哭泣，难道你不想道歉吗？
难道 is used correctly, but the question is a bit unusual. I'd say something like:
你把他弄到哭了，难道你不内疚吗？还不快去跟他道歉！
I wouldn't express a desire for the listener to apologise as a rhetorical question tbh, but I'd use a rhetorical question to tell the listener that they should be ashamed of themselves. 内疚 here means to be stricken by conscience or to feel guilty: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/內疚
I mean, your original question isn't technically wrong, it's just that I wouldn't use rhetorical questions that way.