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高年级 (gāo nián jí) — higher grades, senior grades

Definition

Refers to the upper grade levels in a school (e.g., senior years of primary or high school), contrasted with 低年级 for the lower grades. At HSK 7 it can also apply figuratively to advanced stages of a course or program.

noun
higher gradessenior grades

Examples

  • ，高年级。
    Tā jīn nián zài èr nián jí, míng nián jiù dào gāo nián jí le.
    He is in second grade this year; next year he'll be in the higher grades.
  • 高年级。
    Xué xiào de gāo nián jí xué shēng xū yào xué xí gèng duō de kè chéng.
    The senior-grade students at school need to study more courses.
  • 高年级，。
    Tā zài gāo nián jí xué xí, yǐ jīng yǒu néng lì shēn qǐng dà xué le.
    She is studying in the senior grades and already has the ability to apply to university.

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.

高gāohigh
年级grade level
年niányear级jígrade
偏正Modifier + head

高 means high or senior, and 年级 means grade level, so together it denotes senior grades.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

高 was drawn as a tall building.

Open 高 →

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
禾禾héwheat; grain
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén年nián
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

Open 年 →

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 級; 级 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糹Written in full as糸mìthread
Sound part声符shēngfú
及
及jí級jí
Same sound today

The traditional form 級 has 糹 (thread) and 及 as a sound part; its original sense was a sequence related to silk. The simplified 级 is a later shorthand.

Open 级 →
Appears in
School & Education

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