How to say “work” in Chinese
work; to work
“Work” in Chinese is 工作, gōng zuò: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
工作 is read gōng zuò: 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.
On the left, 亻 “person”.
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 “工作”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 工作. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 你做什么工作？nǐzuòshénmegōngzuòWhat do you do for work?
- 我在公司工作wǒzàigōngsīgōngzuòI work at a company.
- 你在哪儿工作？nǐzàinǎrgōngzuòWhere do you work?
- 这个工作今天必须完成zhègegōngzuòjīntiānbìxūwánchéngThis work has to be finished today, no matter what.
- 我决定换工作wǒjuédìnghuàngōngzuòI've decided to change jobs.
- 对我来说这个工作很重要duìwǒláishuō,zhègegōngzuòhěnzhòngyàoFor me, this job is very important.
More words from the lesson “What do you do for work?”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “work” in Chinese?
“Work” in Chinese is 工作, pinyin gōngzuò.
What does 工作 mean?
工作 (gōngzuò) means “work; to work”.
How do you write 工作?
工作 is 2 characters: 工 (gōng) — work, labor; 作 (zuò) — do; work. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 工作?
工作 is read gōngzuò. Tones: gōng — first tone, zuò — fourth tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“work” in the lesson “What do you do for work?”
This word is from the topic “Study, work and free time” of HSK 1. 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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