A1 Collocation 中性

遅くまで働く

osoku made hataraku

Work until late

Phrase in 30 Seconds

This phrase describes the act of continuing your professional tasks well into the evening hours.

  • Means: To perform work duties until late at night.
  • Used in: Office settings, explaining your schedule, or discussing overtime.
  • Don't confuse: '残業する' (to work overtime) with '遅くまで働く' (working late, which is more descriptive).
Clock + Office Building + Tired Face = 遅くまで働く

Explanation at your level:

This phrase means working until a late time. You use it to tell people you are busy at night.
Use '遅くまで働く' to describe your work schedule. It is very common in office life. You can change the verb ending to talk about the past or future.
This collocation is essential for discussing work-life balance. It is often used when declining social invitations or explaining why you are tired. It is more descriptive than the technical term 'zangyou'.
While grammatically simple, this phrase is sociolinguistically significant in Japan. It functions as a polite way to set boundaries or justify one's absence from social events, reflecting the cultural expectation of long working hours.
The phrase serves as a lexical anchor for discussing the Japanese 'salaryman' culture. Its usage frequency highlights the intersection of linguistic pragmatics and labor practices, often functioning as a face-saving device when managing social obligations.
From a cognitive linguistics perspective, '遅くまで働く' maps the temporal duration of labor onto the social identity of the worker. It is a quintessential example of how Japanese speakers use time-based collocations to navigate hierarchical social structures and maintain harmony (wa) in professional environments.

意思

To continue working until a late hour.

🌍

文化背景

Working late is often seen as a sign of commitment to the company. Working late is often viewed as poor time management or a lack of work-life balance.

💡

Particle usage

Don't forget 'made'. It is the key to the phrase.

意思

To continue working until a late hour.

💡

Particle usage

Don't forget 'made'. It is the key to the phrase.

自我测试

Complete the sentence: 今日は______働きます。

a) 遅くまで b) 早くまで c) 早く

✓ 正确！ ✗ 不太对。 正确答案： a

遅くまで means 'until late'.

🎉 得分： /1

常见问题

1 个问题

No, it's very common.

相关表达

🔄

残業する

synonym

To work overtime

🔗

徹夜する

similar

To stay up all night

在哪里用

🍽️

Declining a dinner invite

Friend: 今夜、飲みに行かない？

You: ごめん、今日は遅くまで働くんだ。

polite
👔

Updating a boss

Boss: この資料はいつ終わる？

You: 今日中に終わらせるために、遅くまで働きます。

formal

Memorize It

Mnemonic

Think of 'Oso-ku' (Late) as 'Oh so late!' and 'Hataraku' as 'Hard-to-work'.

Visual Association

A bright office light shining in a dark city at night.

Story

Ken is at his desk. The sun goes down. He is still there. He is working late.

Word Web

仕事残業疲れたオフィス夜帰る

挑战

Say 'I will work late today' in Japanese to a friend.

In Other Languages

Spanish high

Trabajar hasta tarde

None; the structure is a direct equivalent.

French moderate

Travailler tard

Japanese requires the particle 'made' to indicate the duration.

German moderate

Lange arbeiten

German uses 'long' while Japanese uses 'late'.

Japanese high

残業する

One is a description of time, the other is a contractual term.

Arabic high

العمل لوقت متأخر

Grammatical structure is similar but uses different particles.

Easily Confused

遅くまで働く 对比 遅く働く

Learners often drop the 'made'.

Always include 'made' to show the duration.

常见问题 (1)

No, it's very common.

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