TongTong
Sign in

功课 (gōng kè) — homework, assignment; subject, course (often used with measure word 门)

Definition

功课 means both 'homework' (school assignments to do at home) and 'subject/course' (a class you study). For homework specifically, it's older/literary; 作业 is the everyday word. For 'subject', 课 is the simple everyday choice.

noun
homeworkassignmentsubjectcourse (often used with measure word 门)
Measure word · 门
Easily confused

Examples

  • 功课。
    Wǒ měi tiān wǎn shàng dōu yào zuò gōng kè.
    I need to do homework every evening.
  • 功课，。
    Zhè gōng kè hěn nán, wǒ bú huì zuò.
    This subject is very difficult; I don't know how to do it.
  • 功课。
    Kǎo shì zhī qián yào zuò hǎo gōng kè.
    You need to prepare well (do your homework) before the exam.

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.

功gōngwork
课kèlesson

“功” (work) and “课” (lesson) together mean the work assigned from a lesson.

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
力力lìstrength
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng功gōng
Same sound today

功 puts 力 (strength) beside 工, which gives the sound gōng and means labour or work.

Open 功 →

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánto say
Sound part声符shēngfú
果
果guǒ課kè
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.

Open 课 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4HSK 2.0 Level 6School & Education

Browse more HSK 4 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.