HSK 2 · Common Things

课 kè “class” in Chinese

Traditional 課

What 课 means

  1. class
  2. lesson
  3. subject
  4. course
  5. to levy
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • tax

Measure word 门 mén or 堂 táng · 一门课 yì mén kè

How to say 课

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale课kè4th tone, falling

课 in a sentence

  1. 课开始了，请大家坐好。

    Kè kāishǐ le, qǐng dàjiā zuò hǎo.

    Class has started. Please take your seats, everyone.

    Sentence #11837331 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 今天我有四节课。

    Jīntiān wǒ yǒu sì jié kè.

    I have four classes today.

    Sentence #1216100 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我去上汉语课。

    Wǒ qù shàng Hànyǔ kè.

    I’m going to my Chinese class.

    Sentence #1510613 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 课 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 课 (kè) with each of its parts in a different colour
课kèsubject
  • 讠speech form of 言 · yánMeaning part
  • 果fruit · guǒSound part

讠 hints at the meaning (speech); 果 (guǒ) hints at the sound. Compare it with kè.

How to write 课

课 10 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

课 (kè) stroke order chart: each stroke of the character in the order you write it
Stroke order chart for 课 (kè). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 课

Words with 课

上课shàngkè · to go to class下课xiàkè · to finish class课本kèběn · textbook课文kèwén · text (of a lesson)课程kèchéng · course课题kètí · research topic旷课kuàngkè · to skip class

More words: Everyday Things

字zì · character汉语Hànyǔ · Mandarin (Han language)报纸bàozhǐ · newspaper考试kǎoshì · exam门mén · door票piào · ticket铅笔qiānbǐ · pencil手表shǒubiǎo · watch

FAQs

课 (kè) means “class” or “lesson”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it kè: kè with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 课 is written 課. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 门 (mén) or 堂 (táng). For example, one class is 一门课 (yì mén kè).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type ke with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 课 from the suggestions. Typing ke into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
课 is an HSK 2 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.