夜以继日 (yè yǐ jì rì)

Character breakdown

• 夜 (yè) · 8 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 夕 represents the meaning and 亦 represents the sound.

• 以 (yǐ) · 4 strokes

  Depicts a person (人) carrying something.

• 继 (jì) · 10 strokes

  Simplified form of 繼. Originally written as 㡭, which depicts a continuous series of silk threads (丝) joined together. The 纟 (silk) component was later added to clarify the meaning.

• 日 (Rì) · 4 strokes

  Pictograph of the sun.

Usage

他夜以继日地工作，终于完成了任务。

night and day (idiom); continuous strenuous effort

tā yè yǐ jì rì dì gōng zuò ， zhōng yú wán chéng le rèn wù 。