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本科 (běn kē) — undergraduate program; bachelor's degree (attributive)

Definition

本科 refers to the undergraduate program itself (often used as an attributive before 专业, 课程, 学位). 学士 names the degree or the person who holds it, not the program.

noun
undergraduate programbachelor's degree (attributive)

Examples

  • 。
    Tā zhèng zài dú běn kē.
    He is currently studying for his bachelor's degree.
  • 本科。
    Zhè ge běn kē zhuān yè hěn nán shēn qǐng.
    This undergraduate major is very hard to apply for.
  • 本科。
    Wǒ míng nián kě yǐ ná dào běn kē xué wèi.
    I can get my bachelor's degree next year.

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.

本běnmain/root
科kēsubject

"本" means main/root and "科" means subject; together they refer to the main degree course.

Characters in this word

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

本 adds a stroke at the bottom of a tree shape to mark the roots, giving the sense of foundation or original.

Open 本 →

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
斗斗dòumeasuring tool
Sound part声符shēngfú
禾
禾hé科kē
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

科 pairs 禾, which gives the hé sound, with 斗, a measuring tool.

Open 科 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4HSK 2.0 Level 5School & Education

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