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教材 (jiào cái) — teaching material, textbook (educational materials)

Definition

教材 covers all educational materials (textbooks, workbooks, handouts) and is broader than 课本, which refers to one specific textbook for a course.

noun
teaching materialtextbook (educational materials)
Measure word · 本

Examples

  • 教材。
    Zhè jiào cái de nèi róng hěn quán miàn.
    The content of this textbook is very comprehensive.
  • 。
    Lǎo shī ràng wǒ men mǎi xīn jiào cái.
    The teacher told us to buy new teaching materials.
  • 教材。
    jiào cái De biān xiě xū yào hěn duō yán jiū.
    Writing teaching materials requires a lot of research.

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.

教jiàoteaching
材cáimaterial

教 refers to teaching and 材 to material, so the meaning is material for teaching.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
子子zǐchild
攵Written in full as攴pūteaching cane; stick that represents authority
Sound part声符shēngfú
爻
爻yáo教jiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

教 uses 爻 for its sound and puts 子 (child) with 攵 (攴), a teaching cane, to show teaching a child.

Open 教 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mù
Sound part声符shēngfú
才
才cái材cái
Same sound today

材 combines 木, wood, with 才, cái, as its sound part.

Open 材 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5School & Education

Browse more HSK 5 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.