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Is "study major subject" correct?

Accoding to some dictionaries, there are some alternatives to "major": special field (of study), specialty and major.

In addition, I'm not sure whether I should use "learn" or "study". For example, in the following sentence, which word in the brackets is correct?

Freshmen must take various classes of general education before {studying OR learning} their {specialties OR major subjects OR speical fields}

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1 Answer

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In US English your principle subject of study would be referred to simply as a major. Freshmen must study their Gen Ed before studying their major. In some disciplines, especially in post grad work, like law or medicine, it would be referred to as a specialty.

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What "it" do you refer to? – jwpat7 Oct 23 '11 at 16:27
"It" refers to your primary subject of study. So, for example, if you are studying to become an expert in French Literature, your major would be "French Literature." However, you would also take a variety of other courses to give you a more rounded education. If this were the case, you would say things like "French Literature is my major", typically you would not say "French literature is my major subject." – Fraser Orr Oct 23 '11 at 16:40
Ok. Note, my downvote got locked in, but if you edit that info into your answer I can unvote. – jwpat7 Oct 23 '11 at 19:06
Thank you, Fraser Orr. Then, you can say "study major". I see. – nrony Oct 24 '11 at 2:45

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