Chinese word

工夫

Pronunciation

Pinyingōng fu

Meaning

  • nouneffort

Example

他为这件事花了很多工夫。tā wèi zhè jiàn shì huā le hěn duō gōng fu

He spent a lot of effort on this matter.

Illustration for 工夫 (effort)

More examples

这个问题要下工夫才能解决。zhè ge wèn tí yào xià gōng fū cái néng jiě jué

You can solve this problem only by putting in effort.

Core concept

Practical investment in getting a result right, including the time, energy, and know-how that the task requires.

Common phrases

  • 下工夫xià gōng fū

    put in effort

  • 花工夫huā gōng fu

    spend effort

  • 费工夫fèi gōng fu

    take pains

Similar words

方法fāng fǎ: A planned way or set of steps used to achieve a goal.
办法bàn fǎ: A practical way to deal with a specific problem or find a solution.
技巧jì qiǎo: A special technique or knack for doing something well.

Definition in Chinese

为达到某一目的而费心想办法，投入时间和精力去解决问题或改进结果。wèi dá dào mǒu yí mù dì ér fèi xīn xiǎng bàn fǎ tóu rù shí jiān hé jīng lì qù jiě jué wèn tí huò gǎi jìn jié guǒ

Word origin

工 (gōng, "work") + 夫 (fū, "person") gives the word a human-labor image, which develops into the time, care, and ability devoted to completing a task.

Usage tips

  • In everyday speech, it often appears with verbs meaning spend or put in, framing the work behind a result as a resource that can be increased, saved, or wasted.

Other meanings

  • timenoun
  • skillnoun

Word lists with this word