働く
hataraku[ha̠ta̠ɾa̠kɯ̟]
To work in Japanese is 働く (hataraku).
The verb 働く means to engage in physical or mental activity to earn money. It is also used to describe machines or organs functioning.
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb 働く changes its form depending on the tense and politeness required. The negative form is 働かない (hatarakanai), and the past tense in its plain/informal form is 働いた (hataraita).
How do you pronounce it?
hataraku
Did you know?
Examples in context
- 働くしかない。We have no alternative but to work.This sentence shows a situation where there is no alternative but to 働く.Tatoeba #4793305 by small_snow, translation #280196 by CK
- 人は働くべきだ。People ought to work.This sentence expresses the idea that people ought to 働く.Tatoeba #8579913 by small_snow, translation #1497043 by Thryth
- 彼は働く必要はない。There is no need for him to work.This sentence states that there is no need for someone to 働く.Tatoeba #101666 by bunbuku, translation #284064 by CK
- 私は毎日9時から5時まで働きます。I work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day.
- 彼は会社で一生懸命仕事をしています。He works hard at the company.
- 今日は早く帰って遊びたいから、ちょっとだけ働こうかな。I want to go back home early and play today, so I'll work just a little bit.
- 明日の試験のために、今晩は頑張って勉強しよう！Let's work hard on studying tonight for tomorrow's exam!
- 18 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about their future plans.
- 大翔 Hiroto大翔さんはどこで働くつもりですか？Hiroto-san wa doko de hataraku tsumori desu ka?Where do you plan to work, Hiroto?
- 結衣 Yui私は東京で働きたいです。Watashi wa Tokyo de hatarakitai desu.I want to work in Tokyo.
- 大翔 Hirotoいいですね。どんな仕事をしたいですか？Ii desu ne. Donna shigoto o shitai desu ka?That's nice. What kind of job do you want to do?
- 結衣 YuiIT企業で働くのが夢です。IT kigyo de hataraku no ga yume desu.My dream is to work at an IT company.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 働く, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 働く, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
