功 (gōng): meritorious deed or service, achievement, result
功 (gōng) is a Chinese character meaning “meritorious deed or service.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 工 (structural) and 力 (structural). It ranks #452 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 功 results produced by capable 力 labor 工; 工 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 力 (power) appears in many related characters such as 动 (dòng, (of sth) to move), 力 (lì, power), 办 (bàn, to take care of (a matter)).
Definitions
- meritorious deed or service
- achievement
- result
Etymology & Origin
ideographicResults produced by capable 力 labor 工; 工 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰工力 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
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Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 功
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 成功verb/adjective | chéng gōng | to succeed | 4 |
| 功夫noun | gōng fu | skill | 4 |
| 功能noun | gōng néng | function | 5 |
| 功课noun | gōng kè | homework | 4 |
| 用功verb/adjective | yòng gōng | diligent | 6 |
| 功效noun | gōng xiào | efficacy | 6 |
| 下功夫verb | xià gōng fu | variant of 下工夫 | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 功劳noun | gōng láo | contribution |
| 归功verb | guī gōng | to give credit |
| 特异功能 | tè yì gōng néng | supernatural power |
| 庆功verb | qìng gōng | to celebrate a heroic deed |
| 前功尽弃phrase | qián gōng jìn qì | to waste all one's previous efforts (idiom) |
| 大功告成phrase | dà gōng gào chéng | successfully accomplished (project or goal) |
| 功绩noun | gōng jì | feat |
| 武功noun | wǔ gōng | martial art |
| 功率noun | gōng lǜ | power (rate of doing work, measured in watts) |
| 功力noun | gōng lì | merit |
| 功成名就phrase | gōng chéng míng jiù | to win success and recognition (idiom) |
| 基本功noun | jī běn gōng | basic skills |
| 头功noun | tóu gōng | first class merit |
| 功亏一篑phrase | gōng kuī yī kuì | lit. to ruin the enterprise for the sake of one basketful |
| 功能性noun | gōng néng xìng | functionality |
功 appears in 100 compound words: 39 as the first character, 39 as the last, and 22 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 功 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (37)
National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), a public research university in Tainan, Taiwan
synonym of 功成名遂 (gōngchéngmíngsuì, “merits accomplished and fame obtained”)
high merit that one can never repay (idiom); invaluable achievements
National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), a public research university in Tainan, Taiwan
Showing 12 of 37 idioms containing 功.
Example Sentences
成功需要付出努力，没有捷径可走。
Chénggōng xūyào fùchū nǔlì, méiyǒu jiéjìng kě zǒu.
Success requires effort; there are no shortcuts.
蓝白喊关税重启谈判昔前功尽弃 他批刻意渲染恐慌
lán bái hǎn guān shuì chóng qǐ tán pàn xī qián gōng jǐn qì tā pī kè yì 渲 rǎn kǒng huāng
Blue and white shouted tariffs to restart negotiations, and his criticism deliberately exaggerated panic
荒地变身水耕农场 吉新文英成功种出日本网纹哈密瓜
huāng dì biàn shēn shuǐ gēng nóng chǎng jí xīn wén yīng chéng gōng zhǒng chū rì běn wǎng wén hā mì guā
Wasteland turned into a hydroponic farm Jixin Wenying successfully planted Japanese reticulated cantaloupe
父亲睹儿子从阳台堕下 伸手成功接住
fù qīn dǔ ér zǐ cóng yáng tái duò xià shēn shǒu chéng gōng jiē zhù
The father saw his son fall from the balcony and reached out to catch it
...,到了春节!上海静安祝您龙马精神、马到成功..
. . . , dào le chūn jié ! shǎng hǎi jìng ān zhù nín lóng mǎ jīng shén mǎ dào chéng gōng . .
...The Spring Festival has arrived! Shanghai Jing'an wishes you boundless energy and instant success.
春节新功能!微信又上新了
chūn jié xīn gōng néng ! wēi xìn yòu shǎng xīn le
New Spring Festival Features! WeChat has rolled out more updates.
我肯定他会成功的。
Wǒ kěndìng tā huì chénggōng de.
I'm sure of his success.
他希望已经成功了。
Tā xīwàng yǐjīng chénggōng le.
He hopes he has already succeeded.
他们互帮互助，把校庆搞得很成功。
Tāmen hùbāng hùzhù, bǎ xiàoqìng gǎo de hěn chénggōng.
They helped one another to make the school festival a success.
诚实是他成功最重要的因素。
Chéngshí shì tā chénggōng zuì zhòngyào de yīnsù.
Honesty was the most important factor in his success.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 功 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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