努力工作
nǔlì gōngzuò
To work hard in Chinese is 努力工作 (nǔlì gōngzuò).
The phrase is used to describe putting a lot of effort and energy into one's job or professional tasks.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase consists of 努力, meaning 'effort' or 'hard-working' and 工作, meaning 'work'.
Which one should you use?
While 努力工作 specifically refers to the act of working hard, the single word 努力 can be used more broadly to mean 'to make an effort' in any area of life, such as studying or training.
How does it change in a sentence?
In more formal or written contexts, the adverbial particle 地 can be inserted between the adverb 努力 and the verb 工作 to form 努力地工作.
How do you pronounce it?
nǔlì gōngzuò
Did you know?
- In the digital age, if someone is 'working hard' to achieve something in a game or a specific task, young people might use the slang 肝 (gān). This literally means 'liver', referring to the idea of working so hard that you damage your liver through lack of sleep.
- In business culture, instead of saying someone 'works hard', people often use the term 拼 (pīn). This literally means 'to risk one's life' or 'to gamble', and it describes a very intense, almost sacrificial level of professional commitment.
- While 努力工作 is a standard phrase, employees in some high-pressure tech firms might refer to their grueling schedule as 996, meaning 9 am to 9 pm, 6 days a week.
Examples in context
- 你一直努力工作。You always work hard.Tatoeba #5611634 by verdastelo9604, translation #5403058 by CK
- 你必须努力工作。You have to work hard.Tatoeba #8955183 by crescat, translation #69682 by CK
- 你应该努力工作。You should work hard.Tatoeba #380592 by kellenparker, translation #15863 by CK
- 我希望大家能够努力工作，为公司的发展贡献力量。I hope everyone can work hard and contribute to the company's development.
- 只有勤奋工作，我们才能取得更大的成就。Only through working diligently can we achieve greater success.
- 明天有考试，加油吧！You have an exam tomorrow, work hard!
- 别再拖延了，好好干吧！Stop procrastinating and work hard!
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two colleagues are talking about their upcoming project at the office.
- 浩然 Haoran我们必须为了这个项目努力工作。Wǒmen bìxū wèile zhège xiàngmù nǔlì gōngzuò.We must work hard for this project.
- 梓涵 Zihan是的，我也准备好要努力工作了。Shì de, wǒ yě zhǔnbèi hǎo yào nǔlì gōngzuò le.Yes, I am also ready to work hard.
- 浩然 Haoran梓涵，你最近太辛苦了。Zǐhán, nǐ zuìjìn tài xīkǔ le.Zihan, you have been working too hard lately.
- 梓涵 Zihan谢谢，浩然，我会坚持下去的。Xièxiè, Hàorán, wǒ huì jiānchí xiàqù de.Thank you, Haoran, I will keep going.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
