HSK 1 · Common Verbs

工作 gōngzuò “to work” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 工作 means

  1. to work, job
  2. (of a machine) to operate
  3. task

Measure word 个 gè or 份 fèn · 一个工作 yí ge gōngzuò

How to say 工作

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale工gōng1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale作zuò4th tone, falling

工作 in a sentence

  1. 你什么时候开始工作？

    Nǐ shénme shíhou kāishǐ gōngzuò?

    When do you start work?

    Sentence #2007041 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 帮助你是我们的工作。

    Bāngzhù nǐ shì wǒmen de gōngzuò.

    It’s our job to help you.

    Sentence #5613634 from Tatoeba

  3. 什么时间你去工作？

    Shénme shíjiān nǐ qù gōngzuò?

    What time do you go to work?

    Sentence #6116848 from Tatoeba

How 工作 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 工 (gōng) with each of its parts in a different colour
工gōngwork
  • 一one · yī
  • 丄above · shàng

Memory aidDrawn from a builder’s tool: work.

The character 作 (zuò) with each of its parts in a different colour
作zuòto do; to engage in
  • 亻person form of 人 · rén
  • 乍first time · zhà

Memory aidPerson 亻 with 乍 (zhà) for the sound: to make, to do.

How to write 工作

工 3 strokes · 作 7 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

工作 (gōngzuò) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 工作 (gōngzuò). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 工作

Words with 工

工作日gōngzuòrì · working day工资gōngzī · wages工厂gōngchǎng · factory打工dǎgōng · to work a casual or part-time job工人gōngrén · worker工业gōngyè · industry员工yuángōng · employee工具gōngjù · tool手工shǒugōng · handmade工程师gōngchéngshī · engineer

Words with 作

作业zuòyè · school assignment工作日gōngzuòrì · working day作者zuòzhě · author作家zuòjiā · writer动作dòngzuò · movement作用zuòyòng · effect制作zhìzuò · to make写作xiězuò · writing作文zuòwén · to write an essay合作hézuò · to cooperate

More words: Common Verbs

认识rènshi · to know (someone)喜欢xǐhuan · to like想xiǎng · to want做zuò · to do回huí · to return住zhù · to live打电话dǎ diànhuà · to make a phone call睡觉shuìjiào · to sleep

FAQs

工作 (gōngzuò) means “to work, job” or “(of a machine) to operate”. It is an HSK 1 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it gōngzuò: gōng with a 1st tone, then zuò with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 工作 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Use 个 (gè) or 份 (fèn). For example, one to work is 一个工作 (yí ge gōngzuò).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type gongzuo with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 工作 from the suggestions. Typing gongzuo into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
工作 is an HSK 1 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.