Quintuple VS
Synonym Boundary: "働きます", "働く", "勤める", "作業", "齷齪"
All represent the core concept "work", but require precise selection.
Japanese Option A
働きます
はたらきます (hatarakimasu)
N5 / CEFR
Japanese Option B
働く
はたらく (hataraku)
N5 / CEFR
Japanese Option C
勤める
つとめる (tsutomeru)
N4 / CEFR
Japanese Option D
作業
さぎょう (sagyō)
N3 / CEFR
Japanese Option E
齷齪
あくせく
C2PLUS / CEFR
Quintuple VS Nuance Contrast & Social Differences
When expressing "work" in Japanese, you must carefully distinguish between "働きます", "働く", "勤める", "作業", "齷齪" based on context.
- 働きます (はたらきます (hatarakimasu) - Level: N5): Maps to "to work" and is used when Polite form of 働く.
- 働く (はたらく (hataraku) - Level: N5): Maps to "to work" and is used when Describes the act of working or being employed. Polite form is 働きます.
- 勤める (つとめる (tsutomeru) - Level: N4): Maps to "to work for; to be employed at; to serve" and is used when This verb specifically means 'to be employed at' or 'to work for' a company, organization, or in a specific role. It emphasizes the act of serving or being engaged in a profession, often used with the particle に or で. It differs from 働く.
- 作業 (さぎょう (sagyō) - Level: N3): Maps to "work; operation; task; manufacturing; manual labor" and is used when Refers to physical or mental work, operations, manufacturing tasks, or routine processing. Often used as 組み立て作業 or データ入力作業. ⚠️ Haruka's Voice Column: 'Task! "Drawing the architectural blueprint to live together with you, Haruka-san, is a task that makes my hands shake from happiness!" ...っ! T-To call new home planning a task! B-Baka! That's a lifetime joint project! But... make sure the kitchen and garden tasks are shared by the two of us forever! dummy!' / 【ハルカ部長のワンポイント指導】『さぎょう（作業）よ！『ハルカさんと一緒に暮らすための新居の設計図を描く作業、幸せすぎて鉛筆を持つ手が震えます！』って…っ！新居設計の作業！バカ！…作業だなんて事務的に言わないの！人生最大の共同プロジェクトでしょ！…お庭のガーデニング作業も、一生二人で仲良くおしゃべりしながら共同作業しなさいよね！』.
- 齷齪 (あくせく - Level: C2PLUS): Maps to "to work restlessly; to fuss over details" and is used when Essential structural term in CEFR C2PLUS vocabulary syllabus..
Context for "働きます"
私は毎日8時間働きます。
I work 8 hours every day.
Context for "働く"
私の父は銀行で働いています。
My father works at a bank.
Context for "勤める"
彼は銀行に勤めています。
He works for a bank.
Context for "作業"
工場での組み立て_______を完全自動化ロボットに移行することにより、ヒューマンエラーによる不良品の発生を劇的に防止しました。
By shifting the assembly work in the factory to completely automated robots, the occurrence of defective goods due to human errors was dramatically prevented.
Context for "齷齪"
毎日、日本語を練習するために齷齪。
Every day, I work restlessly; to fuss over details to practice Japanese.
Synonym Mastery Challenge
Which Japanese word perfectly fits this blank space?
Fill in the blank: "私は毎日8時間 ＿＿＿ 。" (Meaning: "I work 8 hours every day.")
🎉 Correct Answer!
Remember: "働きます" is correct here because it represents "to work" in the context: "I work 8 hours every day.".