工夫
gōngfu · period of time (may be months, or mere seconds); spare time; skill; labor; effort
Character breakdown
Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.
How to learn 工夫
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.
Words with the same characters
Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.
to work; (of a machine) to operate; job; work; task; CL:個|个[ge4],份[fen4],項|项[xiang4]
丈夫zhàngfuhusband
夫妻fūqīhusband and wife; married couple
工作日gōngzuòrìworkday; working day; weekday
打工dǎgōngto work a temporary or casual job; (of students) to have a job outside of class time, or during vacation
大夫dàifudoctor; physician