下工夫 (xià gōng fu) — to put in time and effort, to devote energy (to a task)

Definition

A verb phrase meaning to invest time and effort in something; often pairs with 在/下 with a topic. Distinct from the noun 功夫 (martial art / time), which is the same characters but a different word class.

verb
to put in time and effortto devote energy (to a task)
Easily confused

Examples

  • ，下工夫。
    Yào xiǎng xué hǎo zhè mén shǒu yì, nǐ bì xū xià gōng fu.
    To master this craft, you must put in time and effort.
  • ，。
    Wèi le zhè cì kǎo shì, tā xià le bù shǎo gōng fu.
    He put in quite a lot of effort for this exam.
  • ，。
    Tā zài shè jì shàng xià gōng fu hěn duō, suǒ yǐ zuò pǐn hěn chū sè.
    She put a lot of energy into the design, so her work is outstanding.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

下xiàput in
工夫time and effort
工gōng夫fū

下工夫 combines 下 put in and 工夫 time and effort, meaning to devote energy to a task.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.

Open 下 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

夫 originally drew a man. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write a pronoun, so the picture and the pronoun meaning are unrelated.

Open 夫 →

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