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.

     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

     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.

     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?”

     “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.

     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.

     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 (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

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 (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

工(こう)夫(ふ) • (kōfu) 

1. labourer; blue-collar worker

工夫 • (gongbu) (hangeul 공부)

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