How to say "labour" in Japanese
Choosing the right word
- 働くはたらくgodan verb, intransitive verbThe verb: use this when 'labour' means to work or toil, as in labouring in the fields or labouring to support a family; the other four words here are nouns.
- 労働ろうどうnoun, suru verb, intransitive verbLabour as a noun, especially physical work or work thought of socially and economically, as in 'manual labour' or 'labour and management'. The default noun for labour itself.
- 働きはたらきnounThe noun from 働く: work or labour as an activity — one's working, efforts, or the workings of something. For labour as toil or as a field, 労働 is usually the word you want.
- 手間てまnounLabour as the time and effort a task costs — bother, pains. It treats labour as something spent, saved or spared, and is close to English 'effort' or 'trouble' in that use.
- 労力ろうりょくnounLabour as effort or toil expended to achieve something; the natural choice when 'labour' means the energy put in, as in weighing whether the labour pays off.
Use 「働く」 for the verb 'to labour'; 労働 for labour as work, especially physical or economic; 「働き」 for the working or activity itself; 手間 for the time and effort a task takes; 労力 for effort or toil expended.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese equivalents
See also
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