How to use 学 (xué) and 学会 (xuéhuì) in Mandarin Chinese Grammar

1000 words (~ 15 minutes)

学 (xué) and 学会 (xuéhuì) can both mean “to learn” in Mandarin Chinese.

学 is a verb that describes the ongoing process of learning. 学会 is a compound verb that indicates the completion of learning or mastering a skill.

会 often means “can” or “to know how to”. In 学会, it suggests that after learning, the person is now able to do something. So you could think of 学 combined with 会 as “to learn and then be able to”.

学会 is especially common for skills, abilities and learning how to do something.

Compare these sentences:

我在学游泳。

Wǒ zài xué yóuyǒng.

I'm learning to swim.

我学会游泳了。

Wǒ xuéhuì yóuyǒng le.

I have learned to swim.

Now to get a bit more technical. 学会 is a resultative verb compound, where a result complement follows the main verb to indicate the outcome of the action. Other common verb-complement compounds include 看见 (kànjiàn), 听见 (tīngjiàn), 记住 (jìzhù) and 买到 (mǎidào).

看见 = look → see
听见 = listen → hear
记住 = try to remember → remember and it sticks
买到 = try to buy → succeed in buying
学会 = learn → master

Another common form of complement is a direction complement.

学 (xué) example sentences

学 alone has a more general meaning of “to learn” or “to study”, without indicating the result of the learning. It can be used on its own, or as part of the compound 学习 (xuéxí).

他学汉语。

Tā xué hànyǔ.

He is learning Chinese.

她每天学习两个小时。

Tā měitiān xuéxí liǎng gè xiǎoshí.

She studies for two hours every day.

他们学得很快。

Tāmen xué de hěn kuài.

They learn quickly.

学这个很难。

Xué zhège hěn nán.

This is very difficult to learn.

你在学习什么？

Nǐ zài xuéxí shénme?

What are you studying?

Note how none of these sentences indicate a final result for the learning or studying.

学会 (xuéhuì) example sentences

In contrast to 学 or 学习, 学会 specifically indicates that the learning has been successful and the skill or knowledge has been acquired. This is somewhat similar to saying “learned how to” in English.

你学会了吗？

Nǐ xuéhuì le ma?

Have you learned it?

她很快就学会了。

Tā hěn kuài jiù xuéhuì le.

She learned it very quickly.

他学会做饭了。

Tā xuéhuì zuòfàn le.

He has learned how to cook.

这个很难学会。

Zhège hěn nán xuéhuì.

This is difficult to master.

Note that 学会 does not necessarily have to be about past events. It could be about future, conditional, hypothetical or habitual events. Compare these example sentences:

我还没学会。

Wǒ hái méi xuéhuì.

I still haven’t learned it.

小孩子很容易学会这些东西。

Xiǎo háizi hěn róngyì xuéhuì zhèxiē dōngxī.

Children learn these things easily.

我学了两个月开车，但最后没学会。

Wǒ xuéle liǎng gè yuè kāichē, dàn zuìhòu méi xuéhuì.

I studied driving for two months, but didn’t learn it in the end.

我已经学开车两个月了，但还没学会。

Wǒ yǐjīng xué kāichē liǎng gè yuè le, dàn hái méi xuéhuì.

I've been learning to drive for two months, but haven't mastered it yet.

既然你已经开始学钢琴了，那还是把它学会吧。

Jìrán nǐ yǐjīng kāishǐ xué gāngqín le, nà háishì bǎ tā xuéhuì ba.

Since you've already started learning to play the piano, then you should \[see it through and\] learn it well.

学不会 (xué bù huì): to be unable to learn something

Result complements like 学会 can be split with 不 to show that the result cannot be achieved.

So while 学会 means “to successfully learn” or “to learn how to”, 学不会 means “unable to learn” or “cannot master”.

Compare:

学会 = to learn successfully
学不会 = to be unable to learn

这个字我一直学不会。

Zhège zì wǒ yìzhí xué bù huì.

I can never learn (remember) this character.

他怎么教，我都学不会。

Tā zěnme jiāo, wǒ dōu xué bù huì.

No matter how he teaches me, I still can't learn it.

这么难的动作，小孩子学不会。

Zhème nán de dòngzuò, xiǎo háizi xué bù huì.

Children can't learn movements this difficult.

And for comparison with 记住:

这么多单词我记不住。

Zhème duō dāncí wǒ jì bu zhù.

I can't remember this many words.

Note how 学不会 and 记不住 mean that the result is not possible in general, rather than not being achieved once.

学到 (xuédào): to acquire knowledge or insight

学会 is not the only result complement compound involving 学. Many possible results could be added to 学. One example is the word 学到 (xuédào).

学到 has a similar meaning to 学会. Both of these compound verbs indicate that something was learned. 学会 tends to describe actively learning a skill or mastering some kind of knowledge. 学到 tends to describe acquiring information or insight about something through circumstances. In some situations these two verbs can be used interchangeably.

你今天学到了什么？

Nǐ jīntiān xuédào le shénme?

What did you learn today?

我学到了一个新的表达。

Wǒ xuédào le yí ge xīn de biǎodá.

I learned a new expression.

我从他身上学到了耐心。

Wǒ cóng tā shēnshang xuédào le nàixīn.

I learned patience from him.

这份工作让我学到了很多。

Zhè fèn gōngzuò ràng wǒ xuédào le hěn duō.

This job taught me a lot.

我在这门课学到了很多新东西。

Wǒ zài zhè mén kè xuédào le hěn duō xīn dōngxi.

I learned many new things in this course.

学会 implies active proficiency, while 学到 indicates acquisition of knowledge.

学而时习之 (xué ér shí xí zhī)

One last thing to note about the distinction between 学 (xué) and 学会 (xuéhuì) is the first line of Confucius’ Analects (in Classical Chinese):

学而时习之，不亦说乎？

Xué ér shí xí zhī, bù yì yuè hū?

To learn and in time put into practice, is it not a joy?

This shows that 学 by itself refers to the process of learning, without implying successful learning or acquisition.