How to Write 劳 (láo) — Meaning “Labor; work; toil”

Think of "grass (艹) covering (冖) your strength (力)" — the image of grass pressing down on your strength shows how hard work can leave you exhausted. This visual trick links the character's parts to its meaning of labor.

After writing the grass radical 艹, you must add a middle cover 冖 (a dot and a horizontal hook) before writing 力 at the bottom. A common mistake is to skip this cover and write 劳 as just 艹 plus 力. Also keep the bottom 力 centered under the cover.

劳 has grass on top and means labor or toil. 功 has 工 (work) on the left and 力 on the right, meaning merit or achievement. 加 has 力 on the left and 口 (mouth) on the right, meaning to add. Visually, 劳 has a top cover, while 功 and 加 do not.

You will see 劳 in everyday words like 劳动 (láodòng, labor) and 劳累 (láolèi, exhausted). It also appears in polite expressions like 辛苦了 (xīnkǔ le, 'you've worked hard'). In Chinese culture, 劳动 is highly respected, and Labor Day (劳动节) is an important national holiday.

Common words containing 劳 include: 劳动 (láo dòng) — Labor; work; 劳累 (láo lèi) — Tired; exhausted; 功劳 (gōng láo) — merit / contribution.