费工夫

費工夫

fèigōngfu

phrase #35,717

Meanings

1 to take a lot of time and effort
2 to be time-consuming
3 demanding (of a task)

Characters

to spend; consume

(in 工夫) time/effort

Examples

做一道地道的红烧肉真费工夫。

Zuò yí dào dìdao de hóngshāoròu zhēn fèigōngfu.

Making authentic red-braised pork really takes a lot of effort.

学好书法很费工夫。

Xué hǎo shūfǎ hěn fèigōngfu.

Learning calligraphy well takes a lot of time and effort.

Tips

usage

工夫 (gōngfu, here neutral tone in 'fu') means 'time/effort spent.' Don't confuse with 功夫 (gōngfu, 'kungfu / skill') — they're often interchangeable in modern usage but in the phrase 费工夫, the time-and-effort sense dominates. The opposite is 省工夫 (shěng gōngfu, 'to save effort').

grammar

Often used with 很 (hěn) or 真 (zhēn) before it: 很费工夫 / 真费工夫. Can also take an object via 在: 在这件事上费工夫 ('to put effort into this matter').

Stroke Order

费 fèi

工 gōng

夫 fū