科

kē
#277 most
frequent character
subject, family, section
noun
Measure words:个 gè

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

科 pairs 斗, a measuring spoon, with 禾 hé, which supplies the sound. Measuring and sorting give the first sense, 'to differentiate, type.' That grew to 'branch of study' and 'department.'

科 as a component in other characters

sound1 character
蝌

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Example Sentences

我正在学习科学这门科。
wǒ zhèngzài xuéxí kēxué zhè mén kē 。
I am studying the subject of science.
他是我们班的数学科代表。
tāshì wǒmen bān de shù xuékē dàibiǎo 。
He is the representative for the math subject in our class.
她选择了医学科作为她的职业。
tā xuǎnzé le yīxué kē zuòwéi tāde zhíyè 。
She chose the field of medicine as her career.

Words with similar meanings

学科xuékē
subject
More specific to an area of study or branch of knowledge.
领域lǐngyù
field
Broader than 科, can refer to different domains including studies and professions.

Homophones

HSK 4
棵kē
"classifier for trees, cabbages, plants etc"
HSK 5
颗kē
"classifier for small spheres, pearls, corn grains, teeth, hearts, satellites etc"
HSK 6
磕kē
to tap, knock
柯kē
(literary) branch, stem, stalk

Words Starting With 科

科学kē xué
"science; scientific knowledge; scientific
科目kē mù
subject

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