How to say “time” in Chinese
time (free); effort
“Time” in Chinese is 工夫, gōng fu: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
工夫 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
A picture of a carpenter's square.
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 “工夫”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 工夫. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 我今天没工夫逛街wǒjīntiānméigōngfuguàngjiēI have no time to go shopping today.
- 你现在有工夫吗？我想请教你一个问题。nǐxiànzàiyǒugōngfuma,wǒxiǎngqǐngjiàonǐyígewèntíDo you have time right now? I'd like to ask you something.
More words from the lesson “From dawn to late at night”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “time” in Chinese?
“Time” in Chinese is 工夫, pinyin gōngfu.
What does 工夫 mean?
工夫 (gōngfu) means “time (free); effort”.
How do you write 工夫?
工夫 is 2 characters: 工 (gōng) — work, labor; 夫 (fū) — husband, man. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 工夫?
工夫 is read gōngfu. Tones: gōng — first tone, fu — neutral tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“time” in the lesson “From dawn to late at night”
This word is from the topic “Time and deadlines” of HSK 6. 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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