下课 (xià kè) — to finish class, to get out of class

Definition

Use 下课 for finishing a class or school session. Compare 下班 (finishing work) and 放学 (school day ends for students).

verb

to finish classto get out of class

Easily confused

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

下 expresses leaving and 课 the class, giving the sense of class ending.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.

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 課; 课 is its simplified writing.

言果課

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánto say

Sound part声符shēngfú

果

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 課 pairs 言 (to say) with 果 as a sound part; the simplified 课 is a shorthand and its right side is not a sound part.

Appears in