Kapan saatnya kita menggunakan kata “work” dan kapan waktunya menggunakan “works”. Sebuah kesalahan umum yang terjadi dalam penggunaan kata “work” dan “works”. Untuk memahami lebih lanjut simak penjelasan berikut.
Arti dan contoh penggunaan kata “work” dan “works”
Berikut ini beberapa diantaranya yang dikutip dari dictionary.com
Kata Benda
- exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something; labor; toil.
pengerahan tenaga atau usaha yang diarahkan untuk menghasilkan atau mencapai sesuatu; tenaga kerja; bekerja keras. - productive or operative activity.
kegiatan produktif atau operatif. - employment, as in some form of industry, especially as a means of earning one’s livelihood. E.g: to look for work.
pekerjaan, seperti dalam beberapa bentuk industri, terutama sebagai sarana untuk mencari nafkah. Contoh mencari pekerjaan. - one’s place of employment. E.g: Don’t phone him at work.
tempat kerja seseorang. Contoh: Jangan meneleponnya di tempat kerja. - something on which exertion or labor is expended; a task or undertaking. E.g: The students finished their work in class.
sesuatu di mana pengerahan tenaga dikeluarkan; tugas atau usaha. Contoh: Para siswa menyelesaikan pekerjaan mereka di kelas. - materials, things, etc., on which one is working or is to work.
bahan, benda, dll., di mana seseorang sedang bekerja atau sedang bekerja. - the result of exertion, labor, or activity; a deed or performance.
a product of exertion, labor, or activity: musical works.
Often works. an engineering structure, as a building or bridge.
a building, wall, trench, or the like, constructed or made as a means of fortification.
works, - (used with a singular or plural verb) a place or establishment for manufacturing (often used in combination): ironworks.
the working parts of a machine: the works of a watch.
Theology. righteous deeds. - Physics. force times the distance through which it acts; specifically, the transference of energy equal to the product of the component of a force that acts in the direction of the motion of the point of application of the force and the distance through which the point of application moves.
the works, Informal. - everything; all related items or matters: a hamburger with the works.
harsh or cruel treatment: to give someone the works.
adjective
of, for, or concerning work: work clothes.
working (def. 18).
verb (used without object), worked or (Archaic) wrought;working.
to do work; labor.
to be employed, especially as a means of earning one’s livelihood: He hasn’t worked for six weeks.
to be in operation, as a machine: The water should not be disconnected while the pump is working.
to act or operate effectively: We all agree that this plan works.
to attain a specified condition, as by repeated movement: The nails worked loose.
to have an effect or influence, as on a person or on the mind or feelings of a person.
to move in agitation, as the features under strong emotion.
to make way with effort or under stress: The ship works to windward.
Nautical. to give slightly at the joints, as a vessel under strain at sea.
Machinery. to move improperly, as from defective fitting of parts or from wear.
to undergo treatment by labor in a given way: This dough works slowly.
to ferment, as a liquid.
E.g.:
We have a lot of work.
We will start the work as soon as we have received the signed Power of Attorney.
The work involved 17 hours of lawyer’s work and 5 hours of translator’s work.
I find people commonly make the mistake of using “works” in this context – especially in sentences like the second and third examples above.
“Works” has a different meaning. It is used to describe construction or engineering projects.
E.g.:
There are traffic jams all over the city due to the road works in the centre.
Works on the bridge were delayed by 4 weeks due to bad weather.
The Works were signed off 6 months after the Completion Date.
So you should never use “works” to describe the work you do when you’re sitting at a desk.
“Works” can also be used to mean an industrial plant, e.g. Over two hundred people are employed at the works. It may be used in combination with other words, e.g. “ironworks”, “steelworks”, “gasworks”. In this sense the word has no singular form. However, you may say, e.g. “one gasworks”.
“Earthworks” (uncountable) means excavation works in connection with a construction or engineering project. But an “earthwork” (countable) is a defensive fortification built into the ground, often of archaeological interest.
We also talk about e.g. “the works of a watch”, “the washing machine’s works” to describe a machine’s internal mechanism.
“Work” as a countable noun
“Work” is used as a countable noun when referring to works of art or literature.
E.g.:
A work of art.
Numerous new works of Picasso have been revealed by the artist’s electrician.
Pan Tadeusz by Mickiewicz is the most famous work of Polish literature.
Idioms with “works”
in the works – (informal) in preparation, e.g. Various amendments to the Act are in the works.
a spanner in the works – (informal) a problem, e.g. The appearance of new evidence has thrown a spanner in the works.
with the works – (slang) with the full range, with everything, e.g. Give me a hot dog with the works.
give somebody the works – (slang) beat somebody up, give somebody severe treatment, e.g. We took him out the back door of the bar and gave him the works.
Referensi:
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/work, diakses pada 15 November 2021
https://www.orchidenglish.com/when-do-we-use-work-and-works/, diakses pada 15 November 2021
https://blog.harwardcommunications.com/2011/02/21/don%E2%80%99t-confuse-%E2%80%9Cwork%E2%80%9D-and-%E2%80%9Cworks%E2%80%9D/, diakses pada 15 November 2021
