Chinese word

堂

Pronunciation

Pinyintáng

Meaning

  • measure wordclass

Example

我今天上了两堂课。wǒ jīn tiān shàng le liǎng táng kè

I had two classes today.

Illustration for 堂 (class)

More examples

明天我在一堂课上要做报告。míng tiān wǒ zài yì táng kè shàng yào zuò bào gào

Tomorrow I have to give a presentation in one class.

Core concept

A full block of instruction, from its beginning to its end, counted as one event.

Common phrases

  • 一堂课yì táng kè

    one class

  • 每堂课měi táng kè

    every class

  • 上一堂课shàng yì táng kè

    attend one class

Similar words

节jié: Counts one separate period within a class.
门mén: Counts an academic subject or course as one field.
次cì: Counts each occurrence of an action or event.

Definition in Chinese

作为量词，指一次课堂上的授课整体，用来表示上课的次数。zuò wéi liàng cí zhǐ yí cì kè táng shàng de shòu kè zhéng tǐ yòng lái biǎo shì shàng kè de cì shù

Word origin

The original sense of 堂 (táng, "hall") was a principal room, so the word came to mark a session held in that kind of teaching space.

Usage tips

  • English class can mean a subject, a group of students, or one meeting, while this measure word counts one complete meeting of instruction.

Other meanings

  • lessonnoun

Related words

Word lists with this word