返工 (fǎn gōng) — to redo (poorly done work), to rework, to do ov… | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

返工 means to redo work that failed quality checks — the product itself is defective and must be reworked, not the worker returning to work (that's 上班).

verb

to redo (poorly done work)to reworkto do over

Easily confused

反攻fǎn gōngsound-aliketo counterattack; to launch a counteroffensive

Examples

返工。
Zhè ge xiàng mù xū yào fǎn gōng.
This project needs to be redone.
。
Tā fǎn le sān cì gōng cái zuò hǎo.
He redid it three times before getting it right.
，返工。
Gōng zuò zhì liàng bù hé gé, bì xū fǎn gōng.
The work quality is not up to standard, it must be redone.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

Return to the work means doing it over again because it was not done well.

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.

辶反返

Meaning part形符xíngfú

辶Written in full as辵chuòmovement

Sound part声符shēngfú

反

反fǎn返fǎn

Same sound today

返 pairs 辶 (movement) with 反 (sound, with the sense of returning); the whole character originally meant coming back along the path one came from.

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.

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