働く To Work

Meaning

Primary

To Work

Alternatives

To Labor, To Commit

Word Type

intransitive verb, godan verb

Explanation

This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means work, and the verb version means to work, to labor, and sometimes to commit (a crime).

Reading

はたらく

Explanation

Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with this kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you: If you are as mad as a hatter you'll need to work very hard to regain your sanity. You know The Hatter from Alice in Wonderland? Imagine how hard he would have to work to be considered "normal".

Context

Common Word Combinations

• 〜で働く

  病院で働く

  to work at a hospital

  フルタイムで働く

  to work full-time

  会社で働く

  to work at a company

• 〜に働く

  元気に働く

  to work energetically

  プラスに働く

  to have a positive effect

  マイナスに働く

  to have a negative effect

Context Sentences

アリは、よく働く虫だね。

Ants are very hard working bugs.

いつか日本で働きたいんです。

I want to work in Japan someday.

なんで休日も働かなきゃいけないの？

Why do I have to work on holidays?

Kanji Composition

1. 働

   どう Work