Translation guide
Toil refers to hard, often physical work that is tiring and continuous. In Japanese, it can be expressed through verbs and nouns that emphasize labor, effort, and struggle.
Describing continuous, tiring physical work, often outdoors or manual.
Literally 'break one's bones', meaning to work very hard physically. Common and natural.
彼は畑で一日中骨折って働いた。
He toiled in the fields all day.
Literally 'shed sweat and water', meaning to work up a sweat through hard labor.
彼らは建設現場で汗水流して働いている。
They are toiling away at the construction site.
To experience hardship or toil. Can be used for both physical and mental effort.
彼は家族のために苦労して働いた。
He toiled for his family.
Expressing that someone is working hard on something challenging, not necessarily physical.
To struggle or strive hard. Often used for tackling difficult problems or tasks.
彼は問題の解決に奮闘している。
He is toiling to solve the problem.
To have a hard fight or struggle. Emphasizes the difficulty and effort.
彼は新しいプロジェクトに悪戦苦闘している。
He is toiling away at the new project.
Referring to toil as a concept or state of hard work.
Hardship, toil, trouble. A common noun for difficult effort.
彼の苦労がついに報われた。
His toil finally paid off.
Effort, toil. Noun form of 骨折る.
Toil, labor, hardship. More formal and literary.
骨折る is specifically physical effort, while 苦労する can be mental or emotional hardship as well. Use 骨折る for manual labor and 苦労する for broader struggles.
There is no single Japanese word that perfectly matches 'toil' in all contexts. Avoid direct translations like トイル (toiru) which is not used. Instead, choose a verb or noun based on the type of effort.
The toil was worth it.
He does not mind toil.