工夫 (gōng fu) — how to say "time" in Chinese

工夫

Time, effort

noun

Character composition

工

work

夫

man

Radicals / Keys

大

Big

#37 · dà · 3 strokes

工

Work

#48 · gōng · 3 strokes

Synonyms

Collocations

有工夫

yǒu gōng fu

have time

花工夫

huā gōng fu

spend time and effort

Examples

他花了很多工夫学习中文。

He spent a lot of effort learning Chinese.

我没有工夫。

I don't have time.

Writing

Try remembering 工夫

Three short exercises on meaning and pronunciation. Free, no sign-up needed.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say "time" in Chinese?

"time" in Chinese is 工夫 (gōng fu).

工夫 meaning in English

工夫 (gōng fu) means "Time, effort".

How is 工夫 pronounced?

It is pronounced gōng fu (written as gong fu, gongfu). You can listen to the pronunciation on this page.

How do you write "time" in Chinese characters?

It is written 工夫: 工 has 3 strokes, 夫 has 4 strokes. The Writing section above animates the stroke order of each character and lets you trace it.

What HSK 3.0 level is 工夫?

工夫 is on the HSK 3.0 level 6 word list. It is not part of the six-level HSK 2.0 lists.

Tomyo

Learn Chinese words with spaced repetition

Add 工夫 to your vocabulary and remember it with smart reviews, audio and examples.

Download the app

More HSK 3.0 level 6 words