つとめる vs. はたらく

[ggenglish]

Hi, looking for some clarification on differentiating つとめる and はたらく.

[1] 私は　ソニーに　つとめて　います。
[2] 私は　ソニーで　はたらいて　います。

So if my understanding is correct. This would be:

[1] I work for Sony.
[2] I work at Sony.

Hopefully you see what I'm getting at. I figure I could think of つとめる as always 'employed by' but I bet that would be bad right? Examples why? Either way, I should probably get more grammatical, so:

Is it best that I focus on the fact that one is transitive and one is intransitive? (Keep in mind that I'm english canadian where instead of learning 1 language well I learnded 2 languages half-a$$. So grammar terms don't really offer instant clarification. However I'll try).

Does that mean I can say:
私は　明日　はたらきます。
but i can never say
私は　明日　つとめます。
i.e. with つとめる you must always state whom for?

Thanks for time and help.

[mieth]

when I was first learning that word it threw me off as well. Don't worry about the particle. Just remember for tsutomeru it uses ni and for hataraku it uses de. Tsutomeru has a higher image of the work that is being performed or the level of the job. I dont hear people use tsutomeru when talking about their checking job at the convenience store. In that case you would probably use hataraku. If you work at a bank or something then I think they usually use tsutomeru. I think it is mostly a difference in the level of the job. but I may be wrong. Native speakers out there?

[Javizy]

It's more formal, and has less uses than 働く. Best to look it up in a J-J dictionary.

[Psy]

Handy-dandy Japanese synonyms dictionary to the rescue:

【１】「働く」は、からだや頭を使って仕事をする意。「盗みを働く」のように、悪事をする場合にも使う。
【２】「勤める」は、金銭を得るためにある組織の一員となり、定まった仕事をする意。
1) "hataraku" means to do a job using the body, head, etc. As with "to steal" (lit. to work stealing), it can also be used with malevolent deeds.
2) "tsutomeru" means to work in an established job as a unit of the group, for the purpose of earning money.

◯=can use
×=can't use

働く（はたら）：

• ◯公僕として…（こうぼく）
• ◯会社で…（かいしゃ）
• ◯建設現場で…（けんせつげんば）
• ◯遅くまで…（おそ）

勤める：

• ◯公僕として…
• ◯会社に…
• ×建設現場に…
• ×遅くまで…

Thanks for bringing this up-- I hadn't been clear on this one either. Examples were pulled from the 類語例解辞典 supplied with Mac OS 10.6, translations are mine.

[wisamsafi8401]

Great answer! I was searching for the issue and you helped a lot. Thanka

[community.japanese]

wisamsafi8401 san,
that’s good you solved the problem.

Psy san,
どうもありがとうごじました。

Yuki 　由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com