费工夫 (fèi gōng fū) — to spend a great deal of time and effort (on something); (of a task) to be demanding, to require a lot of effort

Definition

费工夫 is a colloquial verb-object phrase meaning 'to take a great deal of time and effort' — either as an activity that demands work, or as something one spends effort on.

verb
to spend a great deal of time and effort (on something)(of a task) to be demandingto require a lot of effort

Examples

  • 费工夫。
    Tā fèi gōng fū xué le hěn jiǔ cái xué huì tán gāng qín.
    He spent a lot of time and effort learning to play the piano.
  • 费工夫，。
    Zhè ge xiàng mù tài fèi gōng fū le, wǒ men dé zài zhǎo jǐ gè rén bāng máng.
    This project is too demanding; we need to find a few more people to help.
  • ，。
    Wèi le zhǔn bèi kǎo shì, wǒ fèi le hěn duō gōng fu fù xí.
    I spent a lot of time and effort reviewing for the exam.

Origin

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 費; 费 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèicowry
Sound part声符shēngfú
弗
弗fú費fèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 費 has 貝, a cowry shell, and 弗, which gives a sound; the simplified 费 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 费 →

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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