Word

Kana: いっしょうけんめい Romaji: isshoukenmei Level: N4

一生懸命

Meaning in English

with utmost effort, very hard, earnestly

Stroke order

Animated kanji stroke order

一

Illustrated Dictionary

Translations in other languages:

Portuguese com todo esforço, com dedicação, muito sério

Spanish con mucho esfuerzo, seriamente

Korean 열심히

French de toutes ses forces, sérieusement

Italian con tutto impegno, seriamente

German mit aller Kraft, ernsthaft

Indonesian dengan sungguh-sungguh

★ Vietnamese hết sức, chăm chỉ

Thai อย่างเต็มที่, ตั้งใจมาก

Dictionary

Word context

What it means

A phrase meaning to exert oneself with all one’s energy; it describes performing a task with unwavering dedication and diligence, often used to express trying as hard as possible.

Main meanings

emphasizes putting all one's energy into a task
conveys wholehearted, diligent effort rather than a casual attempt
often used to describe study, work, sports, or crafts requiring persistence
can function as an adverbial modifier for verbs in sentences

How to use it

Used before verbs to describe how an action is performed; common in both casual and formal speech, with variants including 一生懸命に勉強する or 一生懸命勉強する, depending on style and emphasis.

Variants and close terms

精一杯 (seiippai) — maximum effort
全力を尽くす (zenryoku wo tsukusu) — to spare no effort
全力投球 (zenryoku toukyuu) — give it your best shot

Composition

一生 — lifetime, one's entire life
懸命 — earnest effort, with life at stake
Combination — devoting one's life energy to a task; extreme effort

Etymology

isshōkenmei is a compound formed by combining 一生 (いっしょう) lifetime and 懸命 (けんめい) earnest effort; in compounds the readings fuse to produce the common pronunciation.

Origin

Meiji period onward; usage spread widely in modern Japanese and everyday speech, reinforcing the notion of giving maximum effort in any task.

Word class

expression (慣用句)

Related words by kanji and components

N1 一概に ichigaini unconditionally, necessarily N1 一同 ichidou all present, all concerned, all of us N1 一部分 ichibubun a part, a portion N1 一別 ichibetsu parting N1 一面 ichimen one side, the other hand N1 一目 ichimoku a glance, a look, a glimpse N1 一様 ichiyou uniform, similar, equal N1 一律 ichiritsu even, uniform, equal N1 一連 ichiren a series, a chain, a ream (of paper)

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