工 (gōng) is a Chinese character meaning “work”. It is written from 一 (one) and 丄 (upright base component), one above the other, and takes 3 strokes.
Build the character for “work”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
一 + 丄
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: Unicode U+5DE5 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection
Memory aid
Set one horizontal stroke (一) above the upright base (丄) to build 工, a sturdy frame for work.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
3 strokes
In real words
- 工人gōng rénworker工 = gōng
- 工作gōng zuòwork; job工 = gōng
- 员工yuán gōngstaff; employee工 = gōng
- 工业gōng yèindustry工 = gōng
- 工具gōng jùtool工 = gōng
- 工匠gōng jiàngcraftsman; artisan工 = gōng
- 工厂gōng chǎngfactory工 = gōng
- 矿工kuàng gōngminer工 = gōng
- 工资gōng zīwages; salary工 = gōng
- 施工shī gōngto carry out construction work工 = gōng
- 罢工bà gōngto go on strike; a strike工 = gōng
Go deeper
All readings
work
work; labor; a worker; craftsmanship
工作；劳动；也可指工人或技艺。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 工人gōng rénworker工 = gōng
- 工作gōng zuòwork; job工 = gōng
- 员工yuán gōngstaff; employee工 = gōng
- 工业gōng yèindustry工 = gōng
- 工具gōng jùtool工 = gōng
- 工匠gōng jiàngcraftsman; artisan工 = gōng
- 工厂gōng chǎngfactory工 = gōng
- 矿工kuàng gōngminer工 = gōng
- 工资gōng zīwages; salary工 = gōng
- 施工shī gōngto carry out construction work工 = gōng
- 罢工bà gōngto go on strike; a strike工 = gōng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 工 mean?
工 (gōng) means work; labor; a worker; craftsmanship.
How do you pronounce 工?
It is pronounced gōng.
What parts is 工 made of?
一 (one) and 丄 (upright base component), one above the other. The recorded source is: Unicode U+5DE5 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 工 have?
3. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 工?
工. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 工?
Common ones are 工人 and 工作. The reading of 工 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.