Meaning of 同学
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to study at the same school
- fellow student
- classmate
Measure word: 位,個|个
How to use 同学
同学 is used for classmates and schoolmates at any level, from primary school to university. Teachers also use it to address students, as in 同学们好 (tóngxuémen hǎo), "Hello, everyone." Example: 他是我的大学同学。(Tā shì wǒ de dàxué tóngxué.) He is my university classmate.
同 (tóng) means "same" and 学 (xué) means "to study," so a 同学 is someone who studies in the same place as you. Picture two people sharing one desk with the same book.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 同学 (tóngxué, classmate) and 学生 (xuéshēng, student). 学生 describes a role, while 同学 describes a relationship to someone else, so say 我是学生 for "I am a student," not 我是同学.
同学 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
同 tóng · like · 6 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
学 xué · to learn · 8 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Related words
Words that share a character with 同学.
| 学校 | xuéxiào | school |
| 学生 | xuéshēng | student; schoolchild |
| 大学 | dàxué | university; college |
| 学习 | xuéxí | to learn; to study |
| 上学 | shàngxué | to go to school; to attend school |
| 学院 | xuéyuàn | college; educational institute |
| 中学 | zhōngxué | middle school |
| 放学 | fàngxué | to dismiss students at the end of the school day |
| 小学 | xiǎoxué | elementary school; primary school |
| 大学生 | dàxuéshēng | university student; college student |
| 小学生 | xiǎoxuéshēng | primary school student; schoolchild |
| 中学生 | zhōngxuéshēng | middle-school student; high school student |
Questions about 同学
What does 同学 mean?
同学 (tóngxué) means "to study at the same school; fellow student" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 同学?
同学 is made of 2 characters: 同 (6 strokes), 学 (8 strokes). That is 14 strokes in total.
Is 同学 an HSK word?
Yes. 同学 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 同学 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 同学 is written 同學.
Can I call a stranger 同学 in China?
Yes, if they look like a student. On a campus, people often say 同学 to get the attention of any young person, much like "excuse me" plus a polite title.
Is someone I studied with years ago still my 同学?
Yes. 同学 also covers former classmates, and you can be more specific with words like 老同学 (lǎo tóngxué, old classmate) or 高中同学 (gāozhōng tóngxué, high school classmate).