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徒劳无功 (tú láo wú gōng) — to make a futile effort; to work in vain; to accomplish nothing despite hard work

Definition

An idiom meaning effort that comes to nothing — 'in vain, futile'. Emphasizes that hard work was wasted because the result was zero, unlike simply being unlucky.

idiom
to make a futile effortto work in vainto accomplish nothing despite hard work

Examples

  • ，徒劳无功。
    Tā huā le hěn duō shí jiān zuò zhè jiàn shì, jié guǒ què shì tú láo wú gōng.
    He spent a lot of time on this, but it turned out to be a futile effort.
  • ，徒劳无功。
    Rú guǒ fāng fǎ bú duì, zài nǔ lì yě shì tú láo wú gōng.
    If the method is wrong, no amount of effort will be fruitful.
  • ，徒劳无功。
    Tā men shì tú shuō fú duì fāng, dàn zuì zhōng tú láo wú gōng.
    They tried to persuade the other side, but in the end it was all in vain.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

徒劳futile effort
徒túin vain劳láowork
偏正Modifier + head
无功no achievement
无wúhave not功gōngachievement
动宾Verb + object

徒劳 means futile effort and 无功 means no achievement; effort yields nothing.

Characters in this word

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辵辵chuòwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
土
土tǔ徒tú
Same sound today

徒 originally paired 辵, a walking sign, with 土 to show its sound. The shape later changed into 彳 and 走.

Open 徒 →

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 勞; 劳 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
力力lì
Sound part声符shēngfú
𬡤
𬡤𬡤勞láo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 勞 uses 力 for the meaning and 𬡤 for the sound; the simplified 劳 is a later shortened shape.

Open 劳 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 無; 无 is its simplified writing.

For the simplified 无, the story is about 無. 無 drew a person dancing with ox tails held in both hands to pray for rain, then was borrowed for 'have no', so the picture does not explain that meaning.

Open 无 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
力力lìstrength
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng功gōng
Same sound today

功 puts 力 (strength) beside 工, which gives the sound gōng and means labour or work.

Open 功 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set PhrasesSuccess & Failure

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