努力
doryoku[do̞ɾʲo̞kɯ̟]
In Japanese, effort is 努力 (doryoku).
努力 is a common and general word for effort that is suitable for both written and spoken language. It refers to the amount of work involved in achieving something. While it describes the concept of effort, you can also use related terms like 奮闘 to convey struggling or putting in great effort to achieve something or 精進 to describe devotion or the pursuit of perfection through effort, which has roots in Buddhism. If you want to describe a person who is characterized by constant effort or industriousness, you can use the term 努力家.
Meaning: the amount of work involved in achieving something (noun)
Which one should you use?
努力 typically refers to sustained, long-term effort or striving. In contrast, the word 頑張る is more commonly used for the immediate act of doing one's best or persevering in a specific moment or task. Additionally, while 力 literally means strength, it is often used informally to refer to effort or hard work and 頑張り is a versatile term for expressing effort used for both oneself and others.
How does it change in a sentence?
The noun 努力 can be turned into a verb meaning 'to make an effort' by adding する to the end, resulting in 努力する.
How do you pronounce it?
doryoku
Did you know?
- In Japanese schools, the concept of 努力 is often praised as a virtue in itself, sometimes more so than the actual result or innate talent.
- The character 力 in 努力 represents a muscle or a plow, symbolizing the physical strength required to put in effort.
- The word 努力家 adds the suffix 家, which is usually for professionals like artists or writers, to describe someone whose 'profession' or identity is being hardworking.
Examples in context
- 努力は報われなかった。It wasn't worth the effort.This sentence is useful for describing a situation where effort did not lead to a reward.Tatoeba #11839584 by small_snow, translation #11690864 by sundown
- 長年の努力が烏有に帰した。Years of effort came to nothing.This sentence is useful for describing years of effort coming to nothing.Tatoeba #75865 by Kojimano, translation #327853 by ddnktr
- 彼女の努力には頭が下がる。I take my hat off to her for her effort.This sentence is useful for expressing respect for someone's effort.Tatoeba #94121 by tommy__san, translation #309584 by Dejo
- 彼らの 精進 が実を結んで、プロジェクトは成功裏に終わった。Their devotion bore fruit, and the project ended successfully.
- 28 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Yui and Ren are talking about their exam results.
- 結衣 Yui合格したね！本当におめでとう。Gōkaku shita ne! Hontō ni omedetō.You passed! Congratulations, really.
- 蓮 Renありがとう。これまでの努力が実ったよ。Arigatō. Kore made no doryoku ga minatta yo.Thanks. All my effort has paid off.
- 結衣 Yui毎日遅くまで勉強していたもんね。Mainichi osoku made benkyō shite ita mon ne.You were studying late every day, after all.
- 蓮 Ren結衣に励まされたから頑張れたよ。Yui ni hagemasareta kara ganbareta yo.I could do it because you encouraged me, Yui.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “effort” translations and entries 努力, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
