To Work
To Labor, To Commit
intransitive verb, godan verb
This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means work, and the verb version means to work, to labor, and sometimes to commit (a crime).
Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with this kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you: If you are as mad as a hatter you'll need to work very hard to regain your sanity. You know The Hatter from Alice in Wonderland? Imagine how hard he would have to work to be considered "normal".
頭はガンガンするし、おなかはペコペコだったが、一日中働かなければいけなかった。
I had to labor through the day with a headache and an empty stomach.
日本で働くために日本語をべん強しています。
I'm studying Japanese to work in Japan.
「金曜日、トーフグの記事を読みに来ませんか？」「行きたいんですが、金曜日の夜は遅くまで働かないといけないんです。」「それは残念ですね。それでは、また今度。」
"Would you like to come read Tofugu articles on Friday?" "I’d like to but I have to work late Friday night." "That’s too bad. Maybe some other time."