Chinese word dictionary

下功夫

xiàgōngfu · variant of 下工夫[xia4 gong1 fu5]

Practice word

Word information

Simplified下功夫

Traditional下功夫

Pinyinxiàgōngfu

Part of speechGeneral

HSK 3.06

HSK 2.0Not listed

Character breakdown

Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.

下xià

below, underneath; inferior; to bring down; next

功gōng

achievement, good work; merit; service

夫fū

man, husband; worker; those

How to learn 下功夫

Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.

When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.

Related vocabulary

Words with the same characters

Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.

下xià

down; downwards; below; lower; later; next (week etc); second (of two parts); to decline; to go down; to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc); measure word to show the frequency of an action

下雨xiàyǔ

to rain

下班xiàbān

to finish work; to get off work; next service (train, bus etc)

下课xiàkè

to finish class; to get out of class; (fig.) (esp. of a sports coach) to be dismissed; to be fired

下午xiàwǔ

afternoon; CL:個|个[ge4]; p.m.

一下yíxià

(after a verb) a bit; a little (indicating brief duration, or softening the tone, or suggesting giving sth a try); all at once; suddenly