p8nda
p8nda BETA
Home Dictionary Translate Flashcards Sign in

功

gōng
noun HSK 7-9 #6,567

Meanings

  1. 1 merit; achievement; contribution
  2. 2 skill; effort
  3. 3 work (physics); result

Examples

功夫不负有心人。
Gōngfu bú fùyǒu xīn rén.
Hard work pays off for those who try.
他成功了！
Tā chénggōng le!
He succeeded!
这是大家的功劳。
Zhè shì dàjiā de gōngláo.
This is everyone's contribution.

Tips

usage
功 is used in: 成功 (success), 功夫 (skill/kung fu), 功能 (function), 功课 (homework/schoolwork), 功劳 (credit/contribution), 用功 (to study hard). It conveys effort and its results.
culture
功夫 (gōngfu) literally means 'skill achieved through effort' — it applies to any discipline, not just martial arts. The martial arts meaning became famous worldwide through Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan films.

Components

radical
力 lì
strength; power
Right 力 — indexing radical for 功. Pictographically a plough or muscular arm, the symbol of effort. Anchors 功 in the strength-and-effort family alongside 努 (strive), 劳 (labor), 助 (help), 加 (add). 工 (skilled work) plus 力 (raw strength) gives 功's full picture: achievement earned through applied effort.
phonetic
工 gōng
work; carpenter's square
Left 工 — supplies the sound exactly (gōng, no shift) and reinforces the meaning: 工 itself depicts a carpenter's tool and means 'work.' So 功 is doubly the work-character: tool image plus muscular effort beside it. Same phonetic appears in 红, 江, 项 — all share the gōng/jiāng sound family.

Stroke Order

功 gōng