努力 (nǔlì) — to work hard / effort / diligent

HSK 3 | verb / adjective / noun | putting in great effort toward a goal

努力 (nǔlì)

To exert great effort toward a goal; also used as an adjective to describe a hard-working person and as a noun meaning "effort."

Meanings

  1. [verb] To work hard, to make an effort, to strive.
  2. [adjective] Hard-working, diligent, industrious.
  3. [noun] Effort, hard work.

Example Sentences

他很努力,每天都学习到很晚。 Tā hěn nǔlì, měitiān dōu xuéxí dào hěn wǎn. He is very hard-working and studies until very late every day.

只要努力,就一定能成功。 Zhǐyào nǔlì, jiù yīdìng néng chénggōng. As long as you work hard, you will certainly succeed.

她的成功来自多年的努力。 Tā de chénggōng láizì duō nián de nǔlì. Her success comes from years of effort.

我们要更加努力地工作。 Wǒmen yào gèngjiā nǔlì de gōngzuò. We need to work even harder.

Collocations

Collocation Meaning
努力学习 study hard
努力工作 work hard
努力的结果 the result of effort
更加努力 work even harder
努力奋斗 strive and struggle

Memory Hook

努 contains the element for "woman/strength" and 力 means "strength/force" — channeling all your strength to push forward.