Kilo Lingo

(nǔ lì) - to work hard, to strive; hard-working, diligent in Mandarin

nǔlì

Traditional: 努力

Line drawing of 努力
Coloured illustration of 努力
HSK 3
#567 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

to work hard, to strive; hard-working, diligent

Word origin

努力 (nǔlì) 'to work hard' joins 努 'to exert' with 力 'strength', literally 'to exert strength'. 努 is a phono-semantic compound of 力 'strength' plus 奴 (nú) as phonetic; 力 is a pictograph of a flexed arm or plough.

Origin
compound
Root
努 (to exert: 奴 nú phonetic + 力) + 力 (strength)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 努

努

Stroke order for 力

力

Examples

。

You need to study hard.

，。

He works very hard, putting in twelve hours every day.

。

Hard work will ultimately be rewarded.

。

She works hard every day.

。

I will try my best.

努力 (nǔ lì) means to work hard, to strive, or to make an effort. It can be used as a verb (要努力, need to work hard), an adjective (努力的学生, a hard-working student), or an adverb (努力工作, work diligently). 努 means to exert force and 力 means strength or effort. It is a key word in Mandarin motivational contexts and reflects an important cultural emphasis on diligence and perseverance.

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Mandarin · Free printables

努力: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "努力" (to work hard, to strive; hard-working, diligent): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

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This word is part of lesson 12.