Synonym Boundary: "働きます", "勤める", "作業", "作品"

When expressing "work" in Japanese, you must carefully distinguish between "働きます", "勤める", "作業", "作品" 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.
• 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！』.
• 作品 (さくひん (sakuhin) - Level: N3): Maps to "work (of art, literature, etc.), creation" and is used when Refers to something created by an artist, writer, musician, craftsman, etc., such as a painting, novel, film, or piece of music. It carries a sense of artistic or creative merit..

Mixing these up can easily lead to unnatural translations. Refer to the bilingual context cards below to master the boundaries!