Meaning of 工夫
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- period of time (may be months, or mere seconds)
- spare time
- skill
- labor
- effort
- (old) laborer
How to use 工夫
工夫 most often means time or effort, especially in phrases like 没工夫 (méi gōngfu, no time) and 下工夫 (xià gōngfu, to put in effort). Example: 我今天没工夫看电影。(Wǒ jīntiān méi gōngfu kàn diànyǐng.) I have no time to watch a movie today.
工 (gōng) means work and 夫 (fū) is a man, so 工夫 is the time and effort a man puts into his work. Think of it as the hours you spend, and the skill those hours build.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 工夫 with 功夫 (gōngfu), which is the usual way to write kung fu and is also common for skill gained through practice. In everyday speech the second syllable is a neutral tone, gōngfu, not gōngfū.
工夫 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
工 gōng · labor · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
夫 fū · man · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Related words
Words that share a character with 工夫.
| 工作 | gōngzuò | to work; (of a machine) to operate |
| 工人 | gōngrén | worker |
| 打工 | dǎgōng | to work a temporary or casual job; (of students) to have a job outside of class time, or d |
| 工厂 | gōngchǎng | factory |
| 工具 | gōngjù | tool; instrument |
| 员工 | yuángōng | staff; personnel; employee |
| 功夫 | gōngfu | skill; art |
| 工资 | gōngzī | wages; pay |
| 大夫 | dàifu | senior official (in imperial China) |
| 工程师 | gōngchéngshī | engineer |
| 工业 | gōngyè | industry |
| 人工 | réngōng | artificial; manpower |
Questions about 工夫
What does 工夫 mean?
工夫 (gōngfu) means "period of time (may be months, or mere seconds); spare time" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 工夫?
工夫 is made of 2 characters: 工 (3 strokes), 夫 (4 strokes). That is 7 strokes in total.
Is 工夫 an HSK word?
Yes. 工夫 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 工夫 and 时间 (shíjiān)?
时间 is the neutral, general word for time and works in any context. 工夫 is more colloquial and often stresses free time or the time it takes to do something, as in 一会儿工夫 (yíhuìr gōngfu, a short while).
Can 工夫 be used with measure words or time words?
Yes, it often follows a duration, like 三天的工夫 (sān tiān de gōngfu, the space of three days) or 一眨眼的工夫 (yì zhǎyǎn de gōngfu, in the blink of an eye). This shows how 工夫 can cover months or mere seconds.