School Subjects in Chinese 科目
kēmù
School subject in Chinese is 科目 (kē mù).
Also searched for as: subjects, class subject, maths, english subject.
What do you study? 20 essential school subjects words in Mandarin Chinese, with pinyin and English. Open it in the app to hear each word, tick off the ones you know and turn them into flashcards.
The word for a school subject in Chinese is 科目 (kē mù), though in conversation people usually just add 课 (kè), lesson, to the subject name, as in 数学课 (shù xué kè), a maths lesson. These words let you talk about what you studied, what you're good at and what you dreaded, from 历史 (lì shǐ), history, to 物理 (wù lǐ), physics. Many university subjects simply end in 学 (xué), study, as in 心理学 (xīn lǐ xué), psychology.
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 科目 | kē mù | subject |
| 课 | kè | lesson; class |
| 语文 | yǔ wén | Chinese (school subject) |
| 数学 | shù xué | maths |
| 英语 | Yīng yǔ | English |
| 外语 | wài yǔ | foreign language |
| 历史 | lì shǐ | history |
| 地理 | dì lǐ | geography |
| 政治 | zhèng zhì | politics |
| 物理 | wù lǐ | physics |
| 化学 | huà xué | chemistry |
| 生物 | shēng wù | biology |
| 体育 | tǐ yù | PE; sport |
| 音乐 | yīn yuè | music |
| 美术 | měi shù | art |
| 电脑 | diàn nǎo | computer |
| 经济学 | jīng jì xué | economics |
| 心理学 | xīn lǐ xué | psychology |
| 法律 | fǎ lǜ | law |
| 医学 | yī xué | medicine (subject) |
Usage tips
- Individual lessons are counted with 节 (jié), as in 两节课 (liǎng jié kè), two lessons, while courses and languages take 门 (mén): 你会说几门外语？
- Art at school is 美术 (měi shù), the visual arts, while 艺术 (yì shù) means art or the arts in a broader sense.
- 电脑课 (diàn nǎo kè) is the everyday name for IT lessons; the official subject name in mainland schools is 信息技术 (xìn xī jì shù), information technology.
Common mistakes
- Learners say 我是好在数学, copying 'good at maths'; say 我数学很好 (wǒ shù xué hěn hǎo) or 我擅长数学 (wǒ shàn cháng shù xué).
- 医学 (yī xué) is medicine as a subject, while 药 (yào) is the medicine you take; 'I study medicine' is 我学医 (wǒ xué yī), not 我学药.
Mini dialogue
- A你上学的时候最喜欢哪个科目？Nǐ shàng xué de shí hou zuì xǐ huan nǎ ge kē mù?Which subject did you like best at school?
- B历史和地理。我数学一直不好。Lì shǐ hé dì lǐ. Wǒ shù xué yī zhí bù hǎo.History and geography. I was never any good at maths.
- A我正好相反，我最喜欢物理。Wǒ zhèng hǎo xiāng fǎn, wǒ zuì xǐ huan wù lǐ.I'm the complete opposite, physics was my favourite.
- B怪不得你现在是工程师！Guài bu de nǐ xiàn zài shì gōng chéng shī!No wonder you're an engineer now!
Example sentences
- 你最喜欢哪个科目？Which subject do you like best?
- 今天下午有两节课。There are two lessons this afternoon.
- 她的语文成绩很好。Her marks in Chinese are very good.
- 数学对我来说有点难。Maths is a bit hard for me.
- 他英语说得很流利。He speaks English very fluently.
- 你会说几门外语？How many foreign languages can you speak?
- 我对中国历史很感兴趣。I'm very interested in Chinese history.
- 地理课上我们学看地图。We learn to read maps in geography.
- 今天的政治课讲了法律。Today's politics class was about law.
- 我觉得物理很有意思。I think physics is very interesting.
- 我最怕考化学。Chemistry is the exam I dread most.
- 她想当生物老师。She wants to be a biology teacher.
- 我们每周有三节体育课。We have three PE lessons a week.
- 音乐课上我们学唱歌。We learn to sing in music lessons.
- 美术老师教我们画画。The art teacher teaches us to paint.
- 下午我们去机房上电脑课。This afternoon we have a computer lesson in the IT room.
- 他在大学学经济学。He studies economics at university.
- 我对心理学很感兴趣。I'm very interested in psychology.
- 她姐姐在大学学法律。Her older sister studies law at university.
- 医学要学很多年。Medicine takes many years to study.
Practise speaking
Ready to use these words? The School subjects speaking island has 8 everyday questions about school subjects to prepare your own answers to.