Meaning
subject; class; lesson
Chinese: 课程、功课;也指教学的科目。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “ke” becomes a different word in each tone. 课 is the 4th tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 上课shàng kèto go to class; to attend class; to go to teach a class
- 下课xià kèto finish class; to get out of class; (fig.) (esp. of a sports coach) to be dismissed; to be fired
- 课本kè běntextbook
- 课文kè wéntext
- 课堂kè tángclassroom (
Example Sentence
上课的时候要专心听讲。Shàng kè de shí hou yào zhuān xīn tīng jiǎng.During class, you should listen attentively.
上课Shàng kèto go to class的deof时候shí houtime要yàoto want专zhuānfocused on one thing心xīnheart听讲tīng jiǎngto attend a lecture。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
The speech radical 讠 (meaning) plus 果 (guǒ, sound): organised teaching by speech — a ‘lesson / class / subject’. Simplified from 課.
A way to remember it
Speech (讠) + the sound 果 — a lesson.
Easy to confuse with
- 果‘Fruit’: the sound part of 课, on its own.