Meaning of 中小学
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- middle and elementary school
How to use 中小学
中小学 is a collective noun used for primary and secondary schools together, common in news, policy, and education talk. It often comes before another noun, as in 中小学生 (zhōng-xiǎoxuéshēng, primary and secondary students). Example: 这个城市有很多中小学。(Zhège chéngshì yǒu hěn duō zhōng-xiǎoxué.) This city has many primary and secondary schools.
This word is a shortcut that joins 中学 (zhōngxué, middle school) and 小学 (xiǎoxué, elementary school), sharing one 学 (xué, study). Think of it as "middle" 中 plus "small" 小 schools, the two levels before 大学 (dàxué, university).
Common mistake: Learners sometimes use 中小学 to mean one single school. It refers to both levels as a group, so for your own school say 我的中学 or 我的小学. Also keep 中 in first tone (zhōng), not the fourth tone zhòng used in words like 中奖.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
中 zhōng · within · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
小 xiǎo · small · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
学 xué · to learn · 8 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Related words
Words that share a character with 中小学.
| 小姐 | xiǎojiě | young lady; miss |
| 小时 | xiǎoshí | hour |
| 学校 | xuéxiào | school |
| 中国 | Zhōngguó | China |
| 学生 | xuéshēng | student; schoolchild |
| 大学 | dàxué | university; college |
| 学习 | xuéxí | to learn; to study |
| 同学 | tóngxué | to study at the same school; fellow student |
| 中间 | zhōngjiān | the middle; the inside; in the middle; within; between; among |
| 上学 | shàngxué | to go to school; to attend school |
| 中午 | zhōngwǔ | noon; midday |
| 学院 | xuéyuàn | college; educational institute |
Questions about 中小学
What does 中小学 mean?
中小学 (zhōng-xiǎoxué) means "middle and elementary school".
How do you write 中小学?
中小学 is made of 3 characters: 中 (4 strokes), 小 (3 strokes), 学 (8 strokes). That is 15 strokes in total.
Is 中小学 an HSK word?
Yes. 中小学 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 中小学 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 中小学 is written 中小學.
Why is the order 中小学 and not 小中学?
Chinese fixes the order as 中小学 by convention, the same way people say 中小企业 (zhōng-xiǎo qǐyè) for small and medium businesses. 小中学 sounds wrong to native speakers, so learn the set order.
Does 中学 include high school?
Yes. 中学 covers 初中 (chūzhōng, junior middle school) and 高中 (gāozhōng, senior high school), so 中小学 usually means all schooling from grade one through the end of high school.