job; work; to work
HSK level
工作 is written with 10 strokes (工: 3, 作: 7). The animation replays automatically.
工作 (gōngzuò) means 'work' or 'job' — it functions as both a noun and a verb without changing form, like English 'work.'
As a noun, it refers to a job or employment: 找工作 ('look for a job'), 一份好工作 ('a good job'). As a verb, it means 'to work' in the sense of holding a job or being employed: 我在北京工作 ('I work in Beijing').
Two things differ from English: first, the standard measure word for 工作 as a job position is 份 (fèn), not 个; second, 工作 specifically implies employment or organized labor — it does not cover 'work' in the sense of 'this works' (use 行 xíng or 可以 kěyǐ) or 'homework' (use 作业 zuòyè). For physical labor or a specific task, 活 (huó) is more colloquial.
Note: 工作 works as both a noun ('a job') and a verb ('to work'). Same form, context tells you which.
Character by character
Memory hook: 工 looks like a carpenter's square — a tool. 作 is 'to do.' Together: 'tool-doing' = work.
工作 appears in 1 Fluentide podcast episode at natural native speed — each with the full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.
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Wǒ de gōngzuò hěn máng.
My job is very busy.
neutral
他在北京工作。
Tā zài Běijīng gōngzuò.
He works in Beijing.
neutral
我想找一份新工作。
Wǒ xiǎng zhǎo yí fèn xīn gōngzuò.
I want to find a new job.
spoken
你的工作是什么？
Nǐ de gōngzuò shì shénme?
What's your job?
spoken
上班 specifically means 'to go to work / be at work' — the act of clocking in for the day. 工作 is broader: the job itself or the activity of working. You 上班 from 9 to 5, but you 工作 in finance.
职业 means 'profession / occupation' — the formal label for what you do (doctor, teacher, engineer). 工作 is the concrete job. On a form, 职业 asks your profession; 工作 asks what you do.
Colloquial, northern. Refers to a specific task or piece of work, often manual. 'There's still a lot of 活儿 to do.' 工作 is the general/standard term.
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Tools
