劳而无功 láo ér wú gōng

DEFINITIONS

  1. to work hard while accomplishing little
  2. to toil to no avail

CHARACTERS

劳 láo
HSK 5
labor, toil, do manual work
而 ér
HSK 3
and; and then; and yet; but
无 wú
HSK 4
negative, no, not; KangXi radical 71
功 gōng
HSK 4
achievement, merit, good result