工夫
gōng fu
Pinyin

Definition

工夫
 - 
gōng fu
  1. period of time (may be months, or mere seconds)
  2. spare time
  3. skill
  4. labor
  5. effort
工夫
 - 
gōng fū
  1. (old) laborer

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

功夫
gōng fu
  1. 1 skill
  2. 2 art
  3. 3 kung fu
  4. 4 labor
  5. 5 effort
员工
yuán gōng
  1. 1 staff
  2. 2 personnel
  3. 3 employee
夫妻
fū qī
  1. 1 husband and wife
  2. 2 married couple
工作
gōng zuò
  1. 1 to work
  2. 2 (of a machine) to operate
  3. 3 job
  4. 4 work
  5. 5 task
  6. 6 CL:個|个[gè],份[fèn],項|项[xiàng]
工资
gōng zī
  1. 1 wages
  2. 2 pay
  3. 3 CL:個|个[gè],份[fèn],月[yuè]
丈夫
zhàng fu
  1. 1 husband
  2. 2 CL:個|个[gè]
人工
rén gōng
  1. 1 artificial
  2. 2 manpower
  3. 3 manual work
做工
zuò gōng
  1. 1 to work with one's hands
  2. 2 manual work
  3. 3 workmanship
分工
fēn gōng
  1. 1 to divide up the work
  2. 2 division of labor
加工
jiā gōng
  1. 1 to process
  2. 2 processing
  3. 3 working (of machinery)
务工
wù gōng
  1. 1 to work as a laborer
化工
huà gōng
  1. 1 chemical industry, abbr. of 化學工業|化学工业[huà xué gōng yè]
  2. 2 chemical engineering, abbr. of 化學工程|化学工程[huà xué gōng chéng]
大丈夫
dà zhàng fu
  1. 1 a manly man
  2. 2 a man of character
大夫
dà fū
  1. 1 senior official (in imperial China)
夫
fū
  1. 1 husband
  2. 2 man
  3. 3 manual worker
  4. 4 conscripted laborer (old)
夫人
fū ren
  1. 1 lady
  2. 2 madam
  3. 3 Mrs.
  4. 4 CL:位[wèi]
夫妇
fū fù
  1. 1 a (married) couple
  2. 2 husband and wife
  3. 3 CL:對|对[duì]
夫子
fū zǐ
  1. 1 Master
  2. 2 (old form of address for teachers, scholars)
  3. 3 pedant
妹夫
mèi fu
  1. 1 younger sister's husband
姐夫
jiě fu
  1. 1 (coll.) older sister's husband

Idioms (18)

一夫当关，万夫莫开
yī fū dāng guān , wàn fū mò kāi
  1. 1 one man can hold the pass against ten thousand enemies (idiom)
偷工减料
tōu gōng jiǎn liào
  1. 1 to skimp on the job and stint on materials (idiom)
  2. 2 jerry-building
  3. 3 sloppy work
只要功夫深，铁杵磨成针
zhǐ yào gōng fu shēn , tiě chǔ mó chéng zhēn
  1. 1 If you work at it hard enough, you can grind an iron bar into a needle.
  2. 2 cf idiom 磨杵成針|磨杵成针, to grind an iron bar down to a fine needle (idiom); fig. to persevere in a difficult task
  3. 3 to study diligently
国家兴亡，匹夫有责
guó jiā xīng wáng , pǐ fū yǒu zé
  1. 1 The rise and fall of the nation concerns everyone (idiom). Everyone bears responsibility for the prosperity of society.
天下兴亡，匹夫有责
tiān xià xīng wáng , pǐ fū yǒu zé
  1. 1 The rise and fall of the nation concerns everyone (idiom). Everyone bears responsibility for the prosperity of society.
夫妻反目
fū qī fǎn mù
  1. 1 man and wife fall out (idiom, from Book of Changes); marital strife
工欲善其事，必先利其器
gōng yù shàn qí shì , bì xiān lì qí qì
  1. 1 To do a good job, an artisan needs the best tools (idiom). Good tools are prerequisite to the successful execution of a job
民贼独夫
mín zéi dú fū
  1. 1 tyrant and oppressor of the people (idiom); traitorous dictator
无毒不丈夫
wú dú bù zhàng fu
  1. 1 no poison, no great man (idiom); A great man has to be ruthless.
独夫民贼
dú fū mín zéi
  1. 1 tyrant and oppressor of the people (idiom); traitorous dictator
异曲同工
yì qǔ tóng gōng
  1. 1 different tunes played with equal skill (idiom)
  2. 2 different methods leading to the same result
  3. 3 different approach but equally satisfactory outcome
相夫教子
xiàng fū jiào zǐ
  1. 1 to assist one's husband and educate the children (idiom)
  2. 2 the traditional roles of a good wife
磨刀不误砍柴工
mó dāo bù wù kǎn chái gōng
  1. 1 lit. sharpening the axe won't make the wood-splitting take longer (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. time invested in preparations is not lost
  3. 3 a beard well lathered is half shaved
神工鬼斧
shén gōng guǐ fǔ
  1. 1 supernaturally fine craft (idiom); the work of the Gods
  2. 2 uncanny workmanship
  3. 3 superlative craftsmanship
良工心苦
liáng gōng xīn kǔ
  1. 1 expert craft from hard practice (idiom); hard-won skill
  2. 2 A masterpiece demands suffering.
赔了夫人又折兵
péi le fū rén yòu zhé bīng
  1. 1 having given away a bride, to lose one's army on top of it (idiom)
  2. 2 to suffer a double loss after trying to trick the enemy
马工枚速
Mǎ gōng Méi sù
  1. 1 Sima Xiangru is meticulous and Mei Gao is fast (idiom)
  2. 2 to each his good points
鬼斧神工
guǐ fǔ shén gōng
  1. 1 supernaturally fine craft (idiom); the work of the Gods
  2. 2 uncanny workmanship
  3. 3 superlative craftsmanship

Sample Sentences

西南地区是块硬骨头，要不是你下得工夫足，我们可能还真是啃不下来呢。
xīnán dìqū shì kuài yìng gǔtou ，yàobushì nǐ xià de gōngfū jù ，wǒmen kěnéng hái zhēnshi kěn bù xiàlai ne 。
The southwest region is a difficult region, if not for your time and effort we would not have taken down this region.
Go to Lesson 
贵公司专营加拿大、美国和澳洲的留学业务，特别专攻社会科学类的学门，不过你们在加拿大的市场特别大、也做得很用心，反而对于竞争激烈的美国只针对固定的五、六所顶尖学院，其它知名大学却没有花什么工夫去经营，所以我觉得我的加拿大背景很有优势。
guì gōngsī zhuānyíng Jiānádà 、Měiguó hé Àozhōu de liúxué yèwù ，tèbié zhuāngōng shèhuìkēxué lèi de xuémén ，bùguò nǐmen zài Jiānádà de shìchǎng tèbié dà 、yě zuò de hěn yòngxīn ，fǎnér duìyú jìngzhēng jīliè de Měiguó zhī zhēnduì gùdìng de wǔ 、liù suǒ dǐngjiān xuéyuàn ，qítā zhīmíng dàxué què méiyǒu huā shénme gōngfū qù jīngyíng ，suǒyǐ wǒ juéde wǒ de Jiānádà bèijǐng hěnyǒu yōushì 。
Your company specializes in facilitating exchange programs in Canada, the US and Australia, especially for the social sciences. But you have a particularly strong market in Canada, and you are very meticulous there. In the more competitive US market, you only target five or six of the top schools. You don't spend as much energy on other famous universities, so I think my background in Canada is a big strength.
Go to Lesson 
当真看这两个数字就好？！那股海茫茫，我一个一个查看这两样数字，也得花上不少工夫呢！
dàngzhēn kàn zhè liǎng gè shùzì jiù hǎo ？！nà gǔhǎi mángmáng ，wǒ yīgèyīgè chá kàn zhè liǎngyàng shùzì ，yě děi huāshàng bùshǎo gōngfu ne ！
You really only have to look at those two numbers?! But even then, I'll have to spend a lot of time looking through all the different stocks in the vast market to check these two figures.
Go to Lesson 
真是太阳打西边出来啦！今天怎么有闲工夫约我出来逛街啊？你个大忙人，平时想约你一起吃个饭都得费老大的劲儿呢。
zhēn shì tàiyángdǎxībiānchūlái la ！jīntiān zěnme yǒu xián gōngfu yuē wǒ chūlái guàngjiē a ？nǐ gè dàmángrén ，píngshí xiǎng yuē nǐ yīqǐ chī gè fàn dōu děi fèi lǎodà de jìnr ne 。
The sun has really risen in the west! How come you have free time today to meet me to go shopping? You are such a busy bee. Normally, if I want to meet you to eat a meal, I have to move heaven and earth.
Go to Lesson 
一眨眼工夫，悟空又踩着一朵云彩缓缓落下。
yīzhǎyǎn gōngfu ，wùkōng yòu cǎi zhe yī duǒ yúncǎi huǎnhuǎn luòxià 。
In only the blink of an eye, Wukong was already slowly floating back down to the earth on a cloud.
Go to Lesson 
一眨眼工夫，那团白烟便飘到了唐僧休息的地方，现出了白骨原形。
yīzhǎyǎn gōngfu ，nà tuán bái yān biàn piāo dào le Táng Sēng xiūxi de dìfang ，xiàn chū le báigǔ yuánxíng 。
In the blink of an eye, the cloud of white smoke floated to the place where Tang Seng rested and transformed back into its original skeletal form.
Go to Lesson 
你哪来那么多闲工夫看报纸？哎，你再听我说下一句。这句话绝对没错：新疆是沙漠最集中的地区。
nǐ nǎ lái nàme duō xián gōngfu kàn bàozhǐ ？āi ，nǐ zài tīng wǒ shuō xià yī jù 。zhè jù huà juéduì méicuò ：Xīnjiāng shì shāmò zuì jízhōng de dìqū 。
How do you find so much free time to read the newspaper? Hey, listen to something else I can tell you. This is definitely not incorrect: Xinjiang is the region with the most desert.
Go to Lesson