用功

• Pinyin: yòng gōng
• Hanzi breakdown: 用 = 甬 (vessel in use — apply); 功 = 工 + 力 (work + strength — effort, achievement)

Meaning

Hardworking; diligent; studious. Describes someone who applies sustained effort and serious application to their studies or work.

Primarily used for students or learners who work hard at their studies. Can also function as a verb meaning 'to work hard' or 'to apply oneself': 他很用功 (he is very diligent) or 要用功学习 (you need to study hard). Carries a connotation of quiet, sustained effort rather than occasional bursts. More specific to intellectual/academic effort than 努力 (to strive, work hard generally).

Examples

1. 这所高校要的不是只会死用功、靠分数取胜的学生，而是思维活跃、实践丰富、有责任感的人才。 What this university wants is not students who only study blindly and win by scores, but talent with active thinking, rich practice, and a sense of responsibility.
2. 研究表明，单纯用功而缺少策略，容易陷入低效重复；高效学习要结合刻意练习、间隔复习和检索练习。 Research shows that simply working hard without strategy easily leads to inefficient repetition; effective learning should combine deliberate practice, spaced review, and retrieval practice.
3. 他在研究生阶段极为用功，每天在图书馆苦读十余小时，三年就完成了本需五年的博士论文。 He was extremely diligent in graduate school, studying in the library for more than ten hours a day and finishing a doctoral dissertation in three years instead of the usual five.

Usage Guide

Context: education, academic, self-development

Tone: approving

Do Say

• 这位农村来的第一代大学生入学后格外用功，成绩一直名列前茅，还广泛阅读人文社科著作。(This first-generation university student from a rural background became especially diligent after enrolment, kept top grades, and read widely in humanities and social science works.)
• 研究表明，坚持用功的学习者与偶尔学习者的差距，主要在于每日接触语言的时间、策略是否科学，以及是否坚持输出练习。(Research shows that the gap between persistent diligent learners and occasional learners lies mainly in daily exposure time, whether the strategy is scientific, and whether they keep up output practice.)

Don't Say

• 工人用功地建房子 — 用功 is specific to academic or intellectual study/practice; for manual or physical labour, use 努力 or 勤奋; saying 用功地建房子 sounds unnatural

Origin & History

用 (to use/apply — vessel being used practically) + 功 (effort/achievement — 工 work + 力 strength, applied labour resulting in achievement)

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal