肯干 (kěn gān) — to be willing to work hard, to be industrious

Definition

An adjective-like verb meaning 'willing to work hard' — used to describe someone's work attitude (often a person or employee). Pairs naturally with 要 / 很 / 是…的.

verb
to be willing to work hardto be industrious

Examples

  • 肯干，。
    Tā gōng zuò hěn kěn gān, lǎo bǎn hěn xǐ huan tā.
    He is very willing to work hard, and his boss likes him a lot.
  • 肯干，。
    Nián qīng rén yào kěn gān, cái néng yǒu hǎo de fā zhǎn.
    Young people need to be willing to work hard in order to have good development.
  • 肯干，。
    Tā shì gè kěn gān de yuán gōng, cóng bú bào yuàn.
    She is a hardworking employee who never complains.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

肯kěnwilling
干gāndo

肯 means willing, and 干 means doing work.

Characters in this word

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

肯 is described as showing 冎 (bone) and 肉 (meat), meaning meat attached to the bone.

Open 肯 →

The simplified 干 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (饼干, 干杯) it is 乾; in others (干, 干活儿) (干扰) it is 幹 or 干.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 乾; 干 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
乙乙yǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
倝
倝gàn乾gān
Same sound today
Open 干 →

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