TongTong
Sign in

好学 (hào xué) — to be studious; to be fond of learning

Definition

好学 (hào xué) describes a person's character — 'fond of learning, studious' — and is used as an adjective via 的, not as an action verb. Compare 用功, which describes how hard one works at studying (adverbial/effort-based).

verb
to be studiousto be fond of learning

Examples

  • 好学。
    Tā shì yí gè hěn hào xué de xué shēng.
    He is a very studious student.
  • 好学，。
    Tā cóng xiǎo jiù hěn hào xué, suǒ yǐ xué xí chéng jì hěn hǎo.
    She has been studious since childhood, so her grades are very good.
  • 好学。
    Tā de hào xué jīng shén ràng lǎo shī hěn gǎn dòng.
    His studious spirit moved the teacher.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

好hǎofond of
学xuélearning

好学 pairs 好 meaning fond of with 学 meaning learning, so it describes someone eager to study.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

好 joins 女 (woman) and 子 (child), understood as a woman with a child, linked to goodness or affection.

Open 好 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 學; 学 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 學 may have used 爻 and 六 for sound, with hands and a child added later; the simplified 学 is a shorthand.

Open 学 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.