How to say “graduate student” in Chinese

研究生

yánjiūshēng

graduate student

noun · HSK 4 · topic “University and goals”

“Graduate student” in Chinese is 研究生, yán jiū shēng: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.

How to pronounce it

研究生 is read yán jiū shēng: 3 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.

yán — 2nd tonerising, like a surprised “huh?”

jiū — 1st tonehigh and level, like a long note

shēng — 1st tonehigh and level, like a long note

How to write it

研

yán — grind; research

On the left, 石 “stone”: to grind into powder, and from that, to dig into a subject.

究

jiū — investigate, look into

On top, 穴 “burrow”; at the bottom, 九 jiǔ hints at the sound.

生

shēng — be born, life

In 学生 it means “one who”: one who studies. It is read with the neutral tone: sheng.

Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “研究生”.

Examples

Sentences from the course lessons with 研究生. Tap the sound icon to listen.

我想读研究生wǒxiǎngdúyánjiūshēngI want to go to grad school.
我的目标是考上研究生。wǒdemùbiāoshìkǎoshàngyánjiūshēngMy goal is to get into grad school.
他没考上研究生于是决定先工作tāméikǎoshàngyánjiūshēng,yúshìjuédìngxiāngōngzuòHe didn't get into grad school, so he decided to work first.

More words from the lesson “Bachelor's, master's, doctorate”

Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say “graduate student” in Chinese?

“Graduate student” in Chinese is 研究生, pinyin yánjiūshēng.

What does 研究生 mean?

研究生 (yánjiūshēng) means “graduate student”.

How do you write 研究生?

研究生 is 3 characters: 研 (yán) — grind; research; 究 (jiū) — investigate, look into; 生 (shēng) — be born, life. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.

How do you pronounce 研究生?

研究生 is read yánjiūshēng. Tones: yán — second tone, jiū — first tone, shēng — first tone. The page has a native speaker recording.

“graduate student” in the lesson “Bachelor's, master's, doctorate”

This word is from the topic “University and goals” of HSK 4. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.

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