頑張る

Japanese
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

Etymology

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
  • 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

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
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
  1. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  4. Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  5. Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
  6. 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), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN
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