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学前班 (xué qián bān) — preschool (class)

Definition

学前班 is a preschool class for children just before primary school — more formal and institutional than the everyday word 幼儿园, which refers to the whole kindergarten.

noun
preschool (class)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 。
    Wǒ de hái zi míng nián yào shàng xué qián bān le.
    My child will attend preschool next year.
  • 学前班。
    Zhè ge xué qián bān de xué fèi hěn guì.
    This preschool's tuition is very expensive.
  • 学前班。
    Tā zài xué qián bān jiào xiǎo péng yǒu huà huà.
    She teaches children to draw at preschool.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

学前before school
学xuéstudy/school前qiánbefore
偏正Modifier + head
班bānclass

学 means study or school, 前 means before, and 班 is a class, giving a class before school.

Characters in this word

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 →

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

In the older form of 前, 止 (foot) and 舟 (boat) showed a foot on a boat moving forward; in the current 前 those parts are shortened.

Open 前 →

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

  • 珏珏juépieces of jade
  • 刀刀dāoknife

班 shows 珏, pieces of jade, and 刀, a knife, cutting them into pieces.

Open 班 →
Appears in
School & Education

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