Common Usage & Traps
- 学校 — school
- 我们学校 — our school
- 去学校 — go to school
- 在学校 — at school
- 学校老师 — school teacher
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我去校我去学校校 can't stand alone for 'school'. Use 学校.
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校老师学校老师Attach 老师 to 学校, not to 校 alone.
校
Origin & Mnemonic:
Wooden shackles or a wooden frame used to confine people. A school or college; also to compare, check, or proofread. Wood (木) plus exchange/intersect (交): students exchanging knowledge under trees at school.
Why can't you just say 校 for 'school'?
校 alone sounds unfinished. Say 学校 for 'school'.
校 is a building block, not a standalone word in modern Mandarin. You hear it in 学校, but you can't point at a school and just say 校. It's like saying 'sch' instead of 'school' in English.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Standalone noun | 学校 | 校 |
| Go to school | 我去学校 | 我去校 |
| School teacher | 学校老师 | 校老师 |
If 学 means 'study', why does 学校 mean 'school'?
学 is the action of studying; 学校 is the place where you do it.
学 means 'to study' or 'learning' as an action. 学校 adds 校 to name the building or institution. So 我学中文 means 'I study Chinese', while 我去学校 means 'I go to school'.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Action | 我学中文 | 我学校中文 |
| Place | 我去学校 | 我去学 (if you mean school) |
Appears in Stories 3 stories
A young man helps an old man look for his cat. But the real surprise is why the old man wanted to find the cat. Read on to learn about kindness and friendship.
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一天，白天明在 学校 大门口前边看见有人写了找猫的话：“我想找一只大白猫。
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白天明天天在 学校 里找大白猫。
This playful poem will make you smile as you explore how Chinese words like 'computer' and 'phone' can be funnier than they seem. Get ready to enjoy simple HSK 1 vocabulary and a twist of logic!
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学生上 学校 ，医生不上学。
This playful rhyme helps you learn family words in Chinese. Practice saying who's who with simple questions and answers!
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人人爱学习，天天去 学校 ，上午读读书，下午写写字。
Questions & Discussion 0 questions
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