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卖力 (mài lì) — to spare no effort, to work hard

Definition

卖力 means working hard with visible, energetic effort — often for someone else's benefit or to win approval. As a verb-object phrase it can also mean 'work as a laborer'.

verb
to spare no effortto work hard

Examples

  • 卖力。
    Tā zuò shì zǒng shì hěn mài lì.
    He always works very hard in everything he does.
  • ，。
    Wèi le wán chéng zhè ge xiàng mù, tā mài le bù shǎo lì.
    To complete this project, he put in a lot of effort.
  • 卖力，。
    Tā mài lì dì gōng zuò, zhōng yú dé dào le lǎo bǎn de rèn kě.
    He worked hard and finally got the boss's approval.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

卖màisell
力lìstrength/effort

卖 means sell and 力 means strength or effort; together they express selling one's effort by working hard.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 賣; 卖 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 賣 came from an older shape that joined 出 (go out) with 買 (buy), which gives the sound. The simplified 卖 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical ones.

Open 卖 →

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

力 is drawn as either an arm bending out from the side of the body or a wooden plough.

Open 力 →
Appears in
Workplace & Office

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