つとめる - 務める？勤める？努める？勉める？: When to Use and Examples

  

The four verbs 務（つと）める, 勤（つと）める, 努（つと）める, and 勉（つと）める are all pronounced the same -- つとめる (tsutomeru). However, each verb has a slightly different nuance and usage. Here's a breakdown of each verb: 

 

1. 務（つと）める - to serve (as), to act (as) 

務（つと）める is used to express the act of performing a duty or responsibility, often in a job or work setting. It can also be used to express taking on a role or position. 

Example:

・彼（かれ）がXYZ協会（きょうかい）の新会長（しんかいちょう）を務（つと）めます。

　He will serve as the new chairman of the XYZ Association. 

   　

・2023年（ねん）ワールド・ベースボール・クラシック（WBC）では、栗山英樹氏（くりやまひできし）が日本代表監督（にほんだいひょうかんとく）を務（つと）めた。

　Hideki Kuriyama served as the manager of Japan for the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC).

　

2. 勤（つと）める - to work (for), to be employed, to serve, diligent

勤（つと）める is also used to express working in a job or occupation, but it's only used to say about people who are employed at a company, a shop, a restaurant, etc., and it's not used for someone who runs a company, business or is self-employed. 

   

Example:

・広告代理店（こうこくだいりてん）に勤（つと）めています。

　I work for an advertising agency. 

　　

・私（わたし）の弟（おとうと）は、2年間（ねんかん）、病院（びょういん）に勤（つと）めました。

　My younger brother worked for a hospital for 2 years. 

3. 努（つと）める - to endeavor, to attempt, to try hard

努（つと）める is used to express making an effort or working hard towards a goal or objective.  

  

Example:

・教員（きょういん）たちは、この問題（もんだい）の対処（たいしょ）に努（つと）めた。

　The teachers attempted to address this issue. 

・私（わたし）たちは、感染拡大防止（かんせんかくだいぼうし）に努（つと）めています。

　We have been making efforts to prevent the spread of the disease. 

4. 勉（つと）める - to endeavor, to attempt, to try hard

勉（つと）める has the same meaning as 努（つと）める, but the difference between 勉（つと）める and 努（つと）める is that 努（つと）める is a *Joyo Kanji, while 勉（つと）める is not and is considered a non-Joyo Kanji (常用外漢字（じょうようがいかんじ）). Therefore, 勉（つと）める is rarely used in official documents or other formal contexts. (I guess that explains why I've never, as far as I remember, seen "勉（つと）める" in newspapers, official documents or announcements and so forth...)

*Joyo Kanji (常用漢字（じょうようかんじ）) is a set of kanjis designated by the Japanese government as "common use" kanji for everyday use in Japanese writing. 常用（じょうよう） stands for "regular use" or "common use." 

Here are examples of 勉（つと）める, but for the reason mentioned above, 努（つと）める is usually preferred. 

Example:

・試験（しけん）に合格（ごうかく）できるように勉（つと）めます。

　I will try hard to pass the exam. 

・日本政府（にほんせいふ）は、医療（いりょう）の質向上（しつこうじょう）に勉（つと）めている。 

　The Japanese government has tried to improve the quality of health care. 

　

 

Hope this helps! Please feel free to leave comments and questions below.