埋头苦干
máitóukǔgàn
to work diligently with one’s head down
Characters in this word
头 tóu
- Strokes
- 5
- Radical
- 大 — big, great, vast, high, deep
- Made of
- ⺀ ice 大 big, great, vast, high, deep
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
苦 kǔ
- Strokes
- 8
- Radical
- 艹 — grass, weed, plant, herb
- Made of
- 艹 grass, weed, plant, herb 古 old, classic, ancient
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
干 gān
- Strokes
- 3
- Radical
- 十 — ten, tenth
- How it's built
- Pictograph — a drawing of the thing
Example phrases
- 他不爱说话，每天只是埋头苦干。 Tā bú ài shuōhuà, měitiān zhǐshì máitóukǔgàn. He doesn't talk much and simply works hard, head down, every day.
- 为了赶上进度，大家埋头苦干了整整一个星期。 Wèile gǎn shàng jìndù, dàjiā máitóukǔgàn le zhěngzhěng yí ge xīngqī. To catch up with the schedule, everyone worked flat out for a whole week.
- 与其抱怨，不如埋头苦干，把事情做好。 Yǔqí bàoyuàn, bùrú máitóukǔgàn, bǎ shìqing zuò hǎo. Rather than complain, it's better to put your head down and get the job done.