勞而無功 láo ér wú gōng

DEFINITIONS

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

CHARACTERS

勞 láo labor, toil, do manual work
而 ér
HSK 3
and; and then; and yet; but
無 wú negative, no, not; lack, have no
功 gōng
HSK 4
achievement, merit, good result