Hataraku vs Tsutomeru: How to Say Work in Japanese Without Mistakes

Hataraku: the act of working

Hataraku, written 働く, is working as an activity. It answers how much, how hard, how late and where. Isshōkenmei hataraku is to work hard, osoku made hataraku is to work late, and kafe de hataraku is to work at a café. The place takes de, because de marks where an action happens. The verb is a u-verb: hatarakimasu, hataraite, hataraita, hatarakanai.

Hataraku does not need an employer. A freelancer, a farmer, a shop owner and a volunteer all hataraku. It also works for things: atama ga hataraku means your brain is working. Hatarakimono is a hard worker, and hatarakisugi is overwork.

Because hataraku describes the activity rather than a position, byōin de hataraite imasu could be a doctor, a nurse or a cleaner.

Tsutomeru: being employed, with the particle ni

Tsutomeru, written 勤める, is to hold a position at an organisation. The organisation takes ni, not de, because you are attached to it rather than doing something inside it. Ginkō ni tsutomete imasu, I work for a bank; shiyakusho ni tsutomete imasu, I work at the city office. It is a ru-verb: tsutomemasu, tsutomete, tsutometa. In conversation it almost always appears as tsutomete imasu, because employment is an ongoing state.

Tsutomeru implies an employer, so it does not suit freelancers, shop owners or students with a part-time job. It also sounds slightly formal, which is why it fits self-introductions. Between friends, the company name plus desu is often enough.

Two other verbs share the reading: 努める, to make an effort, and 務める, to serve in a role such as chairperson or host. Shikai o tsutomeru, to act as MC, uses 務. The kanji tell them apart in writing; in speech, context does.

Introductions: hataraite imasu or tsutomete imasu

The self-introduction is where the two verbs meet. Company name plus ni tsutomete imasu states your employer. Place or field plus de hataraite imasu states where you work. Job title plus o shite imasu states what you do. A complete introduction can use all three: ABC ni tsutomete imasu, Ōsaka no shisha de hataraite imasu, eigyō o shite imasu.

If someone asks o-shigoto wa, they want your job or field, and a noun answer is fine: kyōshi desu, IT kankei desu. If they ask dochira ni o-tsutome desu ka, they want the employer, and the answer is the name plus ni tsutomete imasu or the name plus desu. Do not answer an employer question with de hataraite imasu and a place name; it is not wrong, but it sidesteps what was asked.

Shigoto o suru, kinmu suru and arubaito o suru

Shigoto o suru is to do work: a job, a task, or work as opposed to rest. Kyō wa uchi de shigoto o shimasu, I'm working from home today. It is the verb for what you are doing right now, and it never means being employed. Shigoto ga aru, I have work, and shigoto ga owaru, work finishes, are the everyday companions.

Kinmu suru is the formal, written equivalent of working somewhere. It appears in résumés, forms and business emails: kabushiki-gaisha ABC ni kinmu shite orimasu. Its nouns are more useful than the verb: kinmu jikan, working hours; kinmuchi, place of posting; kinmu-saki, employer; kinmu keitai, type of employment. Shukkin suru is to go to work and taikin suru is to leave, both slightly formal.

Arubaito o suru, or the casual baito o suru, is part-time or casual work, mostly by students and people with a main occupation elsewhere. Pāto is the word for part-time work done by adults, often housewives, on a regular contract. Neither pairs naturally with tsutomeru; you say konbini de baito o shite imasu.

The work vocabulary in one table

The words around the verbs are what make a conversation about work possible. Most are kanji compounds that are far easier to recognise once you see the pattern: shoku, 職, is a job or post; kin, 勤, is duty; gyō, 業, is a trade or business.

Shokuba is where you physically work; kinmusaki is who employs you. For a nurse at a university hospital, the hospital is the shokuba and the university the kinmusaki.

Hatarakikata and talking about how you work

Hatarakikata, the way of working, became a national topic when the government promoted hatarakikata kaikaku, working-style reform, and it is now the word for discussing hours, flexibility and balance. Jiyū na hatarakikata is a flexible working style; jibun ni atta hatarakikata is a way of working that suits you.

Around it sit the words for conditions. Zangyō is overtime, a common complaint. Furekkusu is flexitime, zaitaku kinmu or rimōto wāku is working from home, and yūkyū is paid leave. Wāku raifu baransu has entered Japanese unchanged. When you talk about how you work, hataraku is the verb, because you are describing activity: shūsan de hataraite imasu, I work three days a week.

• Hatarakikata: working style, hours and flexibility
• Zangyō: overtime, often the first topic when work comes up
• Zaitaku kinmu: working from home, also rimōto wāku
• Furekkusu: flexitime, choosing your own start and finish
• Yūkyū: paid leave, short for yūkyū kyūka
• Shūkyū futsuka: two days off a week, standard in job adverts

Job adverts list conditions with kinmu words: kinmu jikan, kinmuchi, kyūjitsu and kyūyo, pay. Details vary by employer, so ask at the interview.

Shūshoku, tenshoku and leaving a job

Shūshoku suru is to get a job, and in Japan it strongly suggests the first full-time position after graduation. The search itself is shūkatsu. Once you are working, moving to another employer is tenshoku suru, and the search is tenshoku katsudō. Leaving is taishoku suru, which covers both resigning and retiring; the more specific teinen taishoku is retiring at the mandatory age. Yameru is the plain verb for quitting: kaisha o yameru, quit the company.

These words all take suru, so they behave like nouns, and the organisation takes ni: ABC ni shūshoku shita, I got a job at ABC; ABC ni tenshoku shita, I moved to ABC. Notice the same ni as tsutomeru, because again you are attaching yourself to an organisation.

Learner mistakes and how to fix them

The first and most common mistake is kaisha de tsutomete imasu. Tsutomeru takes ni; de belongs with hataraku. If you cannot remember which, use hataraite imasu with de, which is never wrong. The second is tsutomeru for freelance or part-time work; say furīransu de hataraite imasu or baito o shite imasu instead. The third is shigoto o shite imasu as a statement of employment; it only says you are working, so add the employer or the job title.

Fourth, learners use hataraku for effort in the sense of trying hard, where Japanese wants ganbaru or doryoku suru; hataraku is only about labour. Fifth, watch the three tsutomeru kanji: 勤める for employment, 務める for a role and 努める for effort. And finally, kinmu shite imasu in casual conversation sounds like reading from a form; keep it for writing and interviews.