Language/Mandarin-chinese/Vocabulary/功-gōng-merit;-achievement

功 gōng merit; achievement - Mandarin Chinese

Definition

Radical is 力 lì “strength” or “effort.”. Phonetic is 工 gōng “work”. “Work” 工 combined with “effort” 力 results in “achievement” 功. Distinguish 功 from 切 qiē and 加 jiā.

Examples

• 成功 chénggōng succeed [V]
• 功夫 gōngfū kung fu (type of martial art) [N]
• 中国功夫 (中國功夫) Zhōngguo gōngfū Chinese kung fu (type of martial art) [PH]
• 用功 yònggōng be hardworking, studious [SV]
• 功课 (功課) gōngkè homework; schoolwork [N]

Idioms

• 不成功便成仁

bù chéng gōng biàn chéng rén

to succeed or die trying (idiom)

• 不求有功，但求无过

bù qiú yǒu gōng , dàn qiú wú guò

lit. not aiming to achieve the best possible result, but rather trying to avoid making mistakes (idiom) / fig. to take a risk-averse approach

Sources

Book: Intermediate Written Chinese by Cornelius C. Kubler

Other Lessons

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• 线(線) xiàn wire, line, thread
• 代 dài
• 吸 xī inhale, breathe in
• Count from 1 to 10
• Kitchen
• 楼(樓) lóu building; floor
• 弓 gōng
• 席 xí feast, banquet
• 画(畫) huà paint; painting
• 视(視) shì look at, regard, inspect
• 团(團) tuán group; organization
• 人 rén
• 各 gè each, every