Meaning of 寒假
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- winter vacation
How to use 寒假
寒假 is used mainly for the school or university winter break, which in China usually falls around Spring Festival. It often appears with 放 (fàng) or 过 (guò). Example: 我们下个星期放寒假。(Wǒmen xià ge xīngqī fàng hánjià.) We start winter vacation next week.
寒 (hán) means cold, as in 寒冷 (hánlěng), and 假 (jià) means a break from school or work. Put them together and you get the cold break: winter vacation.
Common mistake: Learners often read 假 as jiǎ here. In 寒假, 假期 and 放假 it is fourth tone jià (vacation), while jiǎ (third tone) means fake or if, as in 假如 (jiǎrú).
寒假 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.
寒 hán · chilly · 12 strokes
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假 jiǎ · fake · 11 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 寒假.
| 放假 | fàngjià | to have a holiday or vacation |
| 请假 | qǐngjià | to request leave of absence |
| 假期 | jiàqī | holiday period; vacation |
| 休假 | xiūjià | to go on vacation; to have a holiday; to take leave |
| 假如 | jiǎrú | if |
| 寒冷 | hánlěng | cold (climate); frigid |
| 暑假 | shǔjià | summer vacation |
| 假日 | jiàrì | a holiday; a day off |
| 长假 | chángjià | long vacation |
| 节假日 | jiéjiàrì | public holiday |
| 假装 | jiǎzhuāng | to feign; to pretend |
| 假设 | jiǎshè | to suppose; to presume |
Questions about 寒假
What does 寒假 mean?
寒假 (hánjià) means "winter vacation" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 寒假?
寒假 is made of 2 characters: 寒 (12 strokes), 假 (11 strokes). That is 23 strokes in total.
Is 寒假 an HSK word?
Yes. 寒假 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the word for summer vacation, the counterpart of 寒假?
Summer vacation is 暑假 (shǔjià), where 暑 means summer heat. The two words are often mentioned together when talking about the school year.
Can adults use 寒假 for their winter time off from work?
Usually not. 寒假 refers to school breaks, so students and teachers use it. Working adults more often say 放假 (fàngjià), 休假 (xiūjià), or 春节假期 (Chūnjié jiàqī) for the Spring Festival holiday.