工作

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.