Chinese word

节

Pronunciation

Pinyinjié

Meaning

  • measure wordclass

Example

我下午有两节课。wǒ xià wǔ yǒu liǎng jié kè

I have two classes this afternoon.

Illustration for 节 (class)

More examples

他上一节课没来。tā shàng yì jié kè méi lái

He did not come to the previous class.

Core concept

One bounded piece of a larger whole, especially a measured stretch of time such as a lesson.

Common phrases

  • 一节课yì jié kè

    one class

  • 上一节课shàng yì jié kè

    previous class

  • 三节课sān jié kè

    three classes

Similar words

门mén: Counts academic subjects or courses as units of study.
次cì: Counts the number of times an action or event occurs.
堂táng: Counts complete classroom lessons or teaching sessions.

Definition in Chinese

表示物或时间被分成的部分；作量词时常用于计数课堂的一时段（如一节课），在不同语境下也可指节目、文章的段落或节日的部分。biǎo shì wù huò shí jiān bèi fēn chéng de bù fèn zuò liàng cí shí cháng yòng yú jì shù kè táng de yì shí duàn rú yì jié kè zài bù tóng yǔ jìng xià yě kě zhǐ jié mù wén zhāng de duàn luò huò jié rì de bù fèn

Word origin

The character 节 (jié, "section") developed from the idea of a bamboo joint and its clear dividing point between adjoining parts.

Usage tips

  • English often uses "class" for both a lesson and a course, while this measure word focuses on the scheduled lesson period being counted.

Other meanings

  • periodnoun

Related words

Word lists with this word