一个劲儿

• Pinyin: yī gè jìn r
• Hanzi breakdown: 一 = single horizontal stroke (one — intensifier); 个 = 人 + 口 (person — measure word, here part of the fixed phrase); 劲 = simplified 勁 = 工 + 力 (work/craft + strength — vigour, force, energy); 儿 = 儿化 suffix (northern dialect erhua — adds a colloquial, spoken quality)

Meaning

Persistently; continuously; without stopping. Describes doing something with unrelenting effort or repetition, often to an excessive or slightly irritating degree.

A colloquial adverb used primarily in northern Chinese dialects. The 儿化 (erhua) suffix marks it as informal and spoken. It conveys relentlessness — often with a slightly negative connotation of stubbornness or excessiveness. Example: 一个劲儿地说、一个劲儿地哭、一个劲儿地催.

Examples

1. 会议进行到一半，他的手机一个劲儿地振动，他只好悄悄退出会议室接听那通紧急来电。 Halfway through the meeting, his phone kept vibrating nonstop, so he had to quietly step out to take that urgent call.
2. 孩子在超市门口一个劲儿地哭闹，非要买那盒昂贵的积木玩具，引得周围路人纷纷侧目。 The child kept crying and making a scene at the supermarket entrance, insisting on buying that expensive box of building blocks, drawing stares from people passing by.
3. 她练习这段钢琴曲已经整整一个月，每天一个劲儿地重复同一个难点乐句，终于将它弹得流畅自如。 She had practiced this piano piece for a full month, repeating the same difficult passage over and over every day, and finally played it smoothly and effortlessly.

Usage Guide

Context: colloquial speech, daily life, narrative

Tone: colloquial

Do Say

• 老王最近遇到了麻烦事，每天下班回到家就一个劲儿地喝酒，不管妻子怎么劝说都听不进去，家人们都十分担忧。(Lao Wang has been having trouble lately; every day after coming home from work he drinks non-stop, ignoring his wife's repeated advice no matter what she says — his family members are all very worried.)
• 项目截止日期临近，客户一个劲儿地发消息催进度，整个团队被迫连续三个晚上加班到凌晨两点才赶上交付节点。(With the project deadline approaching, the client kept bombarding them with messages urging progress without letup; the entire team was forced to work overtime until two in the morning for three consecutive nights just to meet the delivery milestone.)

Don't Say

• 他一个劲儿完成了任务 — 一个劲儿 modifies an ongoing, repeated action, not a single completed achievement; it pairs with verbs like 说、催、哭、练, not achievement verbs; use 不停地、拼命地 if the context is one-time intense effort

Origin & History

一 (one/single — here an intensifier) + 个劲儿 (劲 = energy/force; 儿化 suffix) — literally 'one unbroken burst of energy', meaning to do something with sustained, undiverted force

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal