工夫

工夫

1. time and effort taken to perform a task; work

   • 我們前幾天的工夫算是白花。 [MSC, trad.]
     我们前几天的工夫算是白花。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: UM-Corpus: A Large English-Chinese Parallel Corpus by NLP2CT

     Wǒmen qiánjǐtiān de gōngfu suànshì báihuā. [Pinyin]

     All the work I've put in on her for the past few days has just been wasted.

   • 在開發者文檔中花上一番工夫去解釋其背後的思想 [MSC, trad.]
     在开发者文档中花上一番工夫去解释其背后的思想 [MSC, simp.]

     From: UM-Corpus: A Large English-Chinese Parallel Corpus by NLP2CT

     zài kāifāzhě wéndàng zhōng huā shàng yīfān gōngfu qù jiěshì qí bèihòu de sīxiǎng [Pinyin]

     take pains in the developer's documentation to explain the thinking behind it

2. skills attained after taking the time and effort; skilfulness; expertise; workmanship
3. work; labour; job; task
4. time (for doing something); free time

   • 既然你沒有工夫，你就不必參加茶會了。 [MSC, trad.]
     既然你没有工夫，你就不必参加茶会了。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: UM-Corpus: A Large English-Chinese Parallel Corpus by NLP2CT

     Jìrán nǐ méiyǒu gōngfu, nǐ jiù bùbì cānjiā cháhuì le. [Pinyin]

     Since you have no time, you need not attend the tea party.

   • 「如今才九月半，還有四五個月的工夫，什麼病治不好呢？」 [MSC, trad.]
     「如今才九月半，还有四五个月的工夫，什么病治不好呢？」 [MSC, simp.]

     From: UM-Corpus: A Large English-Chinese Parallel Corpus by NLP2CT

     “rújīn cái jiǔyuèbàn, háiyǒu sì wǔ ge yuè de gōngfu, shénme bìng zhì bù hǎo ne?” [Pinyin]

     “It's only the middle of the ninth month now. You've got four or five months' time still, quite long enough to recover from any illness.”

5. (colloquial) time (when something happened); moment; period

   • 她到處追逐想象中的老鼠和松鼠，一眨眼的工夫就從桌子上跳到椅子上。 [MSC, trad.]
     她到处追逐想象中的老鼠和松鼠，一眨眼的工夫就从桌子上跳到椅子上。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: UM-Corpus: A Large English-Chinese Parallel Corpus by NLP2CT

     Tā dàochù zhuīzhú xiǎngxiàng zhōng de lǎoshǔ hé sōngshǔ, yīzhǎyǎn de gōngfu jiù cóng zhuōzi shàng tiào dào yǐzi shàng. [Pinyin]

     She raced around, chasing imaginary mice and squirrels, and vaulted from table to chair in the blink of an eye.

   • 他躺著一動不動有半天的工夫，拼命掙脫昏迷的控制。 [MSC, trad.]
     他躺着一动不动有半天的工夫，拼命挣脱昏迷的控制。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: UM-Corpus: A Large English-Chinese Parallel Corpus by NLP2CT

     Tā tǎng zhe yīdòngbùdòng yǒu bàntiān de gōngfu, pīnmìng zhèngtuō hūnmí de kòngzhì. [Pinyin]

     For half a day he lay motionless, trying to fight off unconsciousness.

6. alternative form of 功夫 (gōngfu, “martial arts; kung fu”)

• (time and effort): 功夫 (gōngfu)

工夫

1. (Southern Min) skilful; delicate; refined
2. (Taiwanese Hokkien, Taiwanese Hakka) thoughtful; thorough
3. (Taiwanese Hokkien) too polite; too courteous

工夫

1. (literary) temporary worker; casual labour

• (Tokyo) くふう [kùfúú] (Heiban – [0])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [kɯ̟ɸɯ̟ː]

工(く)夫(ふう) • (kufū) 

1. device; scheme; devising; scheming
2. dedication to spiritual improvement (especially through Zen meditation)

工(く)夫(ふう)する • (kufū suru) suru (stem 工(く)夫(ふう)し (kufū shi), past 工(く)夫(ふう)した (kufū shita))

1. devise, come up with, contrive

• (Tokyo) こーふ [kóꜜòfù] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ko̞ːɸɯ̟]

工(こう)夫(ふ) • (kōfu) 

1. labourer; blue-collar worker

工夫 • (gongbu) (hangeul 공부)

1. hanja form^? of 공부 (“learning, study”)