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功夫

gōng fu
套 tào 种 zhǒng
HSK 2.0 Level 5 HSK 3.0 Level 4 Noun Common

Definitions

  1. 1. skill
  2. 2. art
  3. 3. kung fu
  4. 4. labor
  5. 5. effort

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Word relationships

Related words

3 items
武术
wǔ shù

military skill or technique (in former times)

功夫
力气
lì qi

strength

花费力气
时间
shí jiān

time

花费时间

Usage notes

Common mistakes

Don't confuse 功夫 (gōngfu) with 工夫 (gōngfū), which means time or spare time.

Cultural notes

功夫 refers not just to martial arts but to any skill achieved through persistent effort.

Example Sentences

2 shown
他在学问上下了很大 功夫 。
He has put a lot of effort into his studies.
我沒 功夫 吃飯。
Source: Tatoeba.org (ID 10608372)

Sentence data courtesy of Tatoeba.org. AI-generated examples are marked with this icon.

Words Containing 功夫

下功夫
xià gōng fu

see 下工夫[xià gōng fu]

做功夫
zuò gōng fu

to practice (work skills)

功夫球
gōng fu qiú

see 鐵球|铁球[tiě qiú]

功夫茶
gōng fu chá

very concentrated type of tea drunk in Chaozhou, Fujian and Taiwan

只要功夫深，铁杵磨成针
zhǐ yào gōng fu shēn , tiě chǔ mó chéng zhēn

If you work at it hard enough, you can grind an iron bar into a needle.

抓功夫
zhuā gōng fu

to maximize one's time

Child Words of 功夫

功
gōng

meritorious deed or service

夫
fū

husband

夫
fú

(classical) this, that