# 量词：堂 / 节



## anialuo

大家好！
请问“一堂课”和“一节课”有什么区别？


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## M Mira

When I was in highschool, we used 節(节) for "a class between breaks" and often used 堂 to measure consecutive 節 of the same subject. So three hours of chemistry with two breaks in between is 三節 but 一堂. We used the terms with regards to the schedule, so even if the teacher skipped a break, the measure won't change.

However, this can very well be an innovative usage within our school or even only within several classes, as I remember having to describe this to some of my classmates who couldn't understand me. There are also several insular vocabularies in my highschool that aren't used elsewhere (e.g. 左 = "to fail", "to make a mistake") so take this with a pile of salt.


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## SuperXW

I think in general, most Chinese people treat them as the same. But as Mira said, different schools and students would have different preference or interpretations for sure.


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## Johnny519

一堂课  is usually longer than 一节课, 一节课 is commonly regarded as a period( 45 minuites, this could vary in different countries), when I was a pupil, an academic day had 4 periods in the morning, and 3 periods in the afternoon. So you could say 一节课，两节课，三节课，今天有两节英语课，两节数学课。
一堂课 does not mention the duration of time, it could refer to class of a certain subject, such as 一堂作文课, 一堂心理课。


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## anialuo

Thank you all for the explanations, now it's all clear to me


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## brofeelgood

If someone told me 我今天有两堂课 or 我今天有两节课, I'd take them to mean exactly the same thing: I have two classes/lessons today. Nonetheless, I've always held the impression that 堂 (lesson) is "larger" than 节 (segment).

我下午有一堂地理课,分为两节 <- ok to me
我下午有一节地理课,分为两堂 <- not so ok


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## fyl

I think 一節課 is accurately one class between breaks, and 一堂課 is a more abstract concept, e.g. 聽他一席話，好像上了一堂課. As an abstract concept, it can be longer (很多節課).


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## anialuo

Oh, there comes one more, that is "门”... 
"门” is more cloese to "堂”， is that right?


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## M Mira

anialuo said:


> Oh, there comes one more, that is "门”...
> "门” is more cloese to "堂”， is that right?


一門課 is "a course", so I would think that it's farther away from either of 節 and 堂 than the two are to each other.


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## retrogradedwithwind

我们高中学六门课：语文数学英语化学生物物理。
今天上午上了四节课/四堂课。


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## yuechu

Is the usage of 一节课，一堂课 and 一门课 similar in 台湾 and 香港？
Thanks!


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## Skatinginbc

I once posted the following comment in another thread:

節 "period": 計算時間分段的單位。如：「今天上了三節課。」
堂 "class, lesson": 計算課程分節的單位。如：「一堂課」。

A: 「這是第幾節課了？」What period is it now？
B: 「第六節了, 再撐一會兒就放學了。」Sixth! (It's sixth period!)

A:「這是第幾堂課了？」
B:「數不清了, 這個學期已過了大半。」


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## yuechu

Oh, I'd forgotten about that. Thanks, Skatinginbc!


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## corner1912

In mainland, the difference between “堂” and “节” is that “堂” is more abstract. For example, if my primary school organized us to go to a museum of WWII, I'd write this at the end of my diary:
“这真是一堂生动的，有教育意义的历史课”

If the lesson is a real lesson, then “堂” and “节” are both OK:
“这真是一节/堂生动的物理课”

When I refer to a lesson on my timetable, I'd use “节”
“我明天上午有节地理课”


These differences are different from the differences Skatinginbc mentioned above. The first conversation is common, but the second conversation may be strange for some people in mainland.


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## Skatinginbc

算鐘點的是「節」(e.g., 一節課的鐘點費 每節臺幣2,000元), 算次數的是「堂」(一堂課的出席費 每次臺幣2,500元)。


Skatinginbc said:


> A:「這是第幾堂課了？」
> B:「數不清了, 這個學期已過了大半。」


這是第幾堂課了 basically means 這是第幾次上這門課了.「堂」是共聚一堂的「堂」, 指在堂室中從事一次。第一次共聚一堂上這門課是第一堂, 第二次共聚一堂上這門課是第二堂。

聚一次是一堂。聚在文館109室上語音學是一堂, 換了科目或教室或教師或學生成員(e.g.,到商館202室上商用英語)另聚一堂是另一堂。一個下午這樣兩次不同的聚會是「下午有兩堂課」。


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