頑張る

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Japanese

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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

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Etymology

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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

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  • Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 「頑張る」
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
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]

Verb

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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))

  1. 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!?
  2. 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

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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

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  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
  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
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  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
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 “がん‐ば・る 【眼張・頑（グヮン）張】Paid subscription required”, 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
  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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