Definition
下苦功 means 'to put in hard work' or 'to make strenuous efforts', often used when someone devotes serious time and energy to studying, practicing, or achieving a difficult goal. It functions as a separable verb (离合词): you can insert measure words or modifiers between 下 and 苦功, e.g., 下了不少苦功 ('put in quite a lot of hard work').
v
to put in hard workto make strenuous efforts
Examples
- ，。Tā wèile xué hǎo shūfǎ, xià le hěn duō kǔ gōng.He put in a lot of hard work to learn calligraphy well.
- ，下苦功。Rúguǒ xiǎng chénggōng, jiù bìxū xià kǔ gōng.If you want to succeed, you must put in hard work.
- 下苦功，。Tā zài kēyán fāngmiàn xià kǔ gōng duō nián, zhōngyú yǒu le tūpò.She put in years of hard work in scientific research and finally made a breakthrough.
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