classmate
HSK level
同学 is written with 14 strokes (同: 6, 学: 8). The animation replays automatically.
同学 (tóngxué) is the Chinese word for 'classmate' or 'schoolmate' — anyone who studies (or has studied) at the same school or in the same class as you.
Literally 'same-study,' it covers primary school through graduate school, and the bond it implies is stronger than the English 'classmate': adults still refer to people they met in school decades earlier as 老同学 'old classmates.' Two extra uses to know: first, teachers in China call on students with [name]同学 or just 同学们 'class / everyone' — it's the standard schoolroom address.
Second, on the street a shopkeeper or a stranger may call a young person 同学 as a friendly way to mean 'student-looking person,' similar to how Americans might say 'kiddo.' For 'colleague' use 同事 (tóngshì); for 'classmate at the same desk,' 同桌 (tóngzhuō).
Note: Also used as a polite form of address — a teacher calling on a student says '某某同学' (Surname tóngxué), and 同学 alone is a common way to address a stranger who looks like a student.
Character by character
Memory hook: 同 (same) + 学 (study) — someone who studies the same thing in the same place: a classmate.
同学 appears in 2 Fluentide podcast episodes at natural native speed — each with the full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.
他是我的同学。
Tā shì wǒ de tóngxué.
He's my classmate.
neutral
同学们好！
Tóngxuémen hǎo!
Hello, class!
spoken (teacher to students)
我和老同学一起吃饭。
Wǒ hé lǎo tóngxué yìqǐ chī fàn.
I'm having dinner with old classmates.
spoken
我的大学同学都很好。
Wǒ de dàxué tóngxué dōu hěn hǎo.
My university classmates are all really nice.
neutral
同桌 specifically means the classmate who sits at the same desk as you, a meaningful relationship in Chinese schools. 同学 is any classmate.
校友 means 'alumni / school-mate' — someone from the same school but not necessarily the same class. More formal, used in alumni associations.
Acquire it by listening
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