頑張る

Japanese

Kanji in this term
頑	張
がん Grade: S	は > ば Grade: 5
kan'on	kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
眼張る

Alternative forms

眼張る (depending on references)

Etymology

Derivation uncertain. The two leading theories are:

Sense shift from 眼張る (ganbaru, “to keep watch on something, to stare at something”, literally “keep one's eye on something”)^[1]^[2]^[3]
Shift in pronunciation from 我に張る (ga ni haru, literally “to stick to one's desires, to insist on one's point of view”)^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

The sense was originally to be stubborn, to be obstinate, with negative overtones. The modern positive sense of to persist, to endure has arisen since the end of the Edo period in 1868.

The spelling is ateji (当て字),^[2]^[3]^[5] using the 頑 (gan) character to express a sense of stubborn. The historical kana reading ぐわんばる (gwanbaru) comes from the use of this 頑 character, and is not related to either of the expected derivations above.

Some sources use both 頑張る and 眼張る as spellings for the persist, endure sense.^[1] Other sources split these out as entirely separate entries.^[2]^[3]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) がんばる [gàńbáꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [3])^[2]^[7]^[4]^[6]
IPA^(key): [ɡã̠mba̠ɾɯ̟]

Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 「頑張る」

Stem forms
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Terminal (終止形) Attributive (連体形)	頑張る	がんばる	`[gàńbáꜜrù]`
Imperative (命令形)	頑張れ	がんばれ	`[gàńbáꜜrè]`
Key constructions
Passive	頑張られる	がんばられる	`[gàńbáráréꜜrù]`
Causative	頑張らせる	がんばらせる	`[gàńbáráséꜜrù]`
Potential	頑張れる	がんばれる	`[gàńbáréꜜrù]`
Volitional	頑張ろう	がんばろー	`[gàńbáróꜜò]`
Negative	頑張らない	がんばらない	`[gàńbáráꜜnàì]`
Negative perfective	頑張らなかった	がんばらなかった	`[gàńbáráꜜnàkàttà]`
Formal	頑張ります	がんばります	`[gàńbárímáꜜsù]`
Perfective	頑張った	がんばった	`[gàńbáꜜttà]`
Conjunctive	頑張って	がんばって	`[gàńbáꜜttè]`
Hypothetical conditional	頑張れば	がんばれば	`[gàńbáꜜrèbà]`

(Kyoto) がんばる [gáńbárú] (Kōki – [0])^[6]

Verb

頑(がん)張(ば)る • (ganbaru) ^{←ぐわんばる (gwanbaru)^?}intransitive godan (stem 頑(がん)張(ば)り (ganbari), past 頑(がん)張(ば)った (ganbatta))

to work hard and do one's best to achieve a goal
頑(がん)張(ば)っても痩(や)せない⁉
ganbatte mo yasenai⁉
Even though I'm trying so hard, I'm not losing weight!?
to strive unrelentingly in the face of difficulty, to persevere
頑(がん)張(ば)ってください。
Ganbatte kudasai.
Do your best →　Good luck!

大(たい)変(へん)でしょうが、頑(がん)張(ば)ってください。
Taihen deshō ga, ganbatte kudasai.
It must be difficult for you but please keep up the fight.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "頑張る" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	頑張ら	がんばら	ganbara
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	頑張り	がんばり	ganbari
Shūshikei ("terminal")	頑張る	がんばる	ganbaru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	頑張る	がんばる	ganbaru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	頑張れ	がんばれ	ganbare
Meireikei ("imperative")	頑張れ	がんばれ	ganbare
Key constructions
Passive	頑張られる	がんばられる	ganbarareru
Causative	頑張らせる頑張らす	がんばらせるがんばらす	ganbaraseru ganbarasu
Potential	頑張れる	がんばれる	ganbareru
Volitional	頑張ろう	がんばろう	ganbarō
Negative	頑張らない	がんばらない	ganbaranai
Negative continuative	頑張らず	がんばらず	ganbarazu
Formal	頑張ります	がんばります	ganbarimasu
Perfective	頑張った	がんばった	ganbatta
Conjunctive	頑張って	がんばって	ganbatte
Hypothetical conditional	頑張れば	がんばれば	ganbareba

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 “がん‐ば・る【眼張・頑（グヮン）張】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[KDJ-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[DJS-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[SMK5-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[5] Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN

[NKD2O-6] 6.0 ^6.1 “がん‐ば・る【眼張・頑（グヮン）張】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here

[NHK-7] NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

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