v.
To guide someone's learning through words, actions, or discipline. To teach, instruct, train, or coach in any skill or subject.
教
Common Usage & Traps
- 教中文 — teach Chinese
- 教学生 — teach students
- 教做饭 — teach cooking / teach someone to cook
- 教他中文 — teach him Chinese
- 教我做菜 — teach me to cook
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教中文我教我中文English says 'teach Chinese to me,' but Chinese puts the person right after 教: 教我中文.
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教一个中文教中文You don't count a language with 一个 when you mean Chinese as a subject. 教一个学生 is fine; 教一个中文 is not.
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教中文给我教我中文Do not split the person away from 教. Put the person before the skill: 教我中文.
Why does 教 sound jiāo in 教我做菜 but jiào in 教师?
教 is jiāo for the action 'teach'; it is jiào in nouns like 教师.
When 教 is the action 'teach', it is always jiāo: 教中文, 教学生, 教我做菜. When it appears in words about school or religion, it is usually jiào: 教师, 教室, 教育, 宗教. The tone changes because the character is doing a different job.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Action 'teach' | jiāo: 教我做菜 | jiào: 教(jiào)我做菜 |
| School word | jiào: 教师, 教室 | jiāo: 教(jiāo)师 |
| Meaning check | Teach = jiāo | Teacher/classroom = jiào |
After 教, does the person come before the thing being taught?
Put the person first: 他教我中文, not 他教中文我.
教 takes the person right after it, then the skill or action. So 'teach me Chinese' is 教我中文, and 'teach me to cook' is 教我做饭. If you put the skill first, it sounds like you started one sentence and crashed into another.
“他说周六可以教我做几个北京菜。” (He said he can teach me to cook a few Beijing dishes on Saturday.)
“他说周六可以教我做几个北京菜。” (He said he can teach me to cook a few Beijing dishes on Saturday.)
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Person before skill | 教我中文 | 教中文我 |
| Person before action | 教我做菜 | 教做菜我 |
| Full sentence | 他说周六可以教我做几个北京菜。 | 他说周六可以教做几个北京菜我。 |
If someone says 我教你中文, are they teaching you or learning from you?
我教你中文 means 'I teach you Chinese'; the teacher is before 教.
教 is what the teacher does; 学 is what the learner does. 我教你中文 means I teach you Chinese. 我学中文 means I learn Chinese. If you learn from someone, say 我跟你学中文, not 我学你中文.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| I teach you Chinese | 我教你中文 | 我学你中文 |
| I learn Chinese | 我学中文 | 我教你中文 (if you mean learn) |
| I learn from you | 我跟你学中文 | 我学你中文 |
Featured in Story Deep Dive
Follow how this word unfolds across the narrative arc of this graded story.
Meet Gao Youpeng, a friendly Beijing coworker who welcomes the narrator with local dishes and a simple language-exchange plan. This warm HSK 2 story is perfect for first readings about work and friendship.
- Scene #1
他说周六可以 教 我做几个北京菜。
- Scene #2
我 教 他英文，他 教 我中文，每天学几个词，很快，我们的英语和汉语都能好很多。
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