How to say “kung fu” in Chinese
kung fu; time and effort
“Kung fu” in Chinese is 功夫, gōng fu: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
功夫 is read gōng fu: 2 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
On the left, 工 gōng “work” hints at the sound; on the right, 力 “strength”.
In 丈夫 it is read with the neutral tone.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “功夫”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 功夫. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 学好汉语要下功夫xuéhǎoHànyǔyàoxiàgōngfuTo learn Chinese well, you have to put in the effort.
- 师父教了他三年功夫。shīfujiāoletāsānniángōngfuThe master taught him kung fu for three years.
- 你要在发音上下功夫。nǐyàozàifāyīnshangxiàgōngfuYou need to work on your pronunciation.
- 我要在发音上下功夫wǒyàozàifāyīnshangxiàgōngfuI need to work on my pronunciation.
- 我们要在口语上下功夫wǒmenyàozàikǒuyǔshangxiàgōngfuWe need to work on our speaking.
More words from the lesson “Famous people”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “kung fu” in Chinese?
“Kung fu” in Chinese is 功夫, pinyin gōngfu.
What does 功夫 mean?
功夫 (gōngfu) means “kung fu; time and effort”.
How do you write 功夫?
功夫 is 2 characters: 功 (gōng) — merit; work, effort; 夫 (fū) — husband, man. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 功夫?
功夫 is read gōngfu. Tones: gōng — first tone, fu — neutral tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“kung fu” in the lesson “Famous people”
This word is from the topic “Art and the stage” of HSK 4. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
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