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Currently, I am preparing a letter of my study objectives for an university application.
I ask myself what is the exact difference between the following terms? Or can I use them synonymously?

  1. taking courses
  2. taking classes
  3. taking lessons
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The uses and meanings of 'course', 'class' and 'lesson' vary considerably between North American English and British English.

North American English

course

This means a series of classes, on a particular subject, usually lasting a whole semester or year. It does not mean a "course of study"; for this North American English uses "program" or "major". Evidence for this usage comes from American and Canadian University websites in which courses are usually given "credit" values, e.g. 3-credit course, 4-credit course, and listed per semester as the "Schedule of Courses". Example sentences:

  • What courses do I need to take to get a degree in English?
  • Students must register for 4 courses to be considered full time.
  • I'm taking a course on Shakespeare's sonnets.

class

This has two possible meanings in a university context. First, as a particular instance of a course. Example sentences:

  • I can't go for coffee now, I have a class.
  • I have classes all day Wednesday.

Second, as a slightly more informal term for 'course'. Example sentences:

  • I'm taking a class on Shakespeare's sonnets.
  • How many classes are you taking this semester?

In a non-university context, 'class' substitutes for 'course', i.e., 'course' isn't used in these contexts very much. It still has the two meanings above, though.

Example sentences: For a series of individual classes on pottery,

  • I'm taking a pottery class.

For a particular instance of a class,

  • In my yoga class today, we did back bends.

lesson

The word 'lesson' isn't used much in the North American English higher educational context except as part of the compound noun 'lesson plan', which is a technical educational term meaning a plan for a single class. It also appears in the context of individual instruction, especially for musical instruments, e.g. "piano lesson".

British English

course

In British English, a course refers to a course of study, i.e. a series of lectures, tutorials or exams taken over a number of years, usually leading to a degree. Neither 'class' nor 'lesson' is used in the context of Higher Education in the UK, as far as I know.

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    At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Course is used in the British English sense: Mathematics is a Course. The various series of lectures lasting a semester, e.g. Calculus I, that would be needed for a degree in this Course are called Subjects. In contrast, at most other American universities, Mathematics might be referred to as a Subject (though Major or Curriculum are more likely) and Calculus I would be called a course.
    – Dilip Sarwate
    Commented Feb 20, 2012 at 4:26
  • @DilipSarwate Interesting. Although I've spent some time at MIT it wasn't as a student so I guess I never noticed this. It certainly seems to be a minority use in the U.S., though.
    – Alan Munn
    Commented Mar 3, 2012 at 19:44
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Notwithstanding the fact that people will be sloppy with their language and use these terms synonymously:

Course is the broadest term for the study of a subject. It could be used to refer to an entire degree program, but it is most appropriately applied to a specific subject such as First Year English Literature.

Class is more specific and is most properly applied to a section of a course taught by one instructor to one group of students at a certain scheduled time.

Lesson is the most specific and implies a particular unit of instruction, such as would be delivered by a particular instructor to a particular class on a given day.

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Each word paints a different image through association in the reader's mind. Here are some meanings associated with each:

  • course - field of study, duration as in "time elapsed", the process of evaluation and grading
  • class - teacher-student interaction, where the interaction does not necessarily include the evaluation and grading grading process
  • lesson - a unit of knowledge, tutorial, achieving a greater level of understanding

Course is at the highest, most abstract (macro) level. Lesson is at the most specific, micro level. Both course and lesson are independent of time. Both are dependent on goals. Class is the least abstract, most tangible of the three. It is dependent on time. It is a process level word.

You know what image you want to convey to the reader. It may not matter which country the reader hails from. What will matter is the other words in the sentence.

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When we want to talk about a period of time when we are taught something, we say we have a lesson. For the same occasion, especially as part of a group, we can use the term class: We have a History lesson/class at nine.

When we want to talk about a series of lessons or lectures we attend, we say we take a course. The same term applies when we want to talk about a period of study at an academic institution which leads to an exam or qualification, as in postgraduate courses.

According to OALD, class can also be used to describe a series of lessons on a particular subject (as a synonym of course), for example we can say pottery class and mean a series of classes/lessons.

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  • @Theta30: No, I'm speaking about the UK.
    – Irene
    Commented Feb 18, 2012 at 18:27
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In a "class" you take lessons.

In a "course" you take many classes.

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    These are not all set in stone, as students use these terms (especially class and course) interchangeably...
    – Jimi Oke
    Commented Jul 9, 2011 at 0:54
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A course is "a series of lectures or lessons in a particular subject, typically leading to a qualification."
A class is "a course of instruction."

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It all depends on the context. In the UK, for instance (I'm presuming you're talking about an American university), neither "class" nor "lesson" is ever used in the context of higher education, and the "course" one studies is likely to be the overall subject, e.g. Computer Science/English Lit/whatever. Then again, the terminology varies widely from one institution to another within the UK, as I'm sure it does in America.

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  • So a course in the US might be a subject in the UK, while a course in the UK might be a subject in the US?
    – Peter Shor
    Commented Jul 10, 2011 at 12:52
  • like thesis and dissertation?!
    – karthik
    Commented Feb 18, 2012 at 12:15
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Let me see if I can simply all of the above:

A lesson is part of a class; a class is part of a course; a course is part of a program that usually leads to a degree or certification.

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    Except for the fact that 'lesson' isn't really used (at least in the US) and 'class' can be synonymous with 'course' and therefore isn't always part of one, and 'course' can mean 'program' in the UK. Simplification isn't always what it's cracked up to be.
    – Alan Munn
    Commented Feb 19, 2012 at 15:29
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    @AlanMunn In my part of the US, lesson is a well known word. Maybe it is owing to that I'v dated several teachers but lesson is word that I'v heard often—lesson plans; get tomorrow's lesson ready—asf. Many textbooks have "Lesson #" instead of "Chapter #". And while class may bestead course sometimes—What classes/courses are you taking this semester?—course isn't an eath swap for class ... I'm off to class. (Course doesn't work here) ... When you're talking to your advisor, you'll discuss the coursework (not classwork ... classwork is what you do for class) that you'll need for your degree.
    – AnWulf
    Commented Feb 20, 2012 at 3:03
  • w.r.t. 'lesson', I was referring to a higher education context. It may well be used in high/middle/grade school. As for your substitutions, the fact that 'class' can be a synonym of 'course' doesn't entail that 'course' can be used everywhere 'class' can be. "I'm off to class" is only the first of my meanings of 'class' so we don't expect a substitution. Thanks for your 'coursework/classwork' example, which is a very nice minimal pair, but since the words are compounds, we don't necessarily expect the same substitutions to be possible.
    – Alan Munn
    Commented Feb 20, 2012 at 4:01
  • It doesn't matter, professors hav lesson plans as well as high school teachers. I'v made lessons plans for classes at a corporation. With your advisor you'll discuss the courses you'll need for your program (or maybe degree track). If class and course were syn. then classwork and coursework would also be syn. Think of it this way. In order to complete the course, you must go class for your lessons.
    – AnWulf
    Commented Feb 20, 2012 at 4:39
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If I teach "Calculus 1" in both Spring 2016 and Fall 2016, then those are two different classes but the same course.

Evidence: terminology such as "Schedule of classes" (for a particular semester) and "Course catalog" (not bound to a particular semester).

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It is easy to understand when you know what you are talking about and how to define the words.

Lessons

Lessons are considered as chapters filled with a certain amount of assignments. It can take several classes to finish one lesson, but also several lessons can be done in one class.

  • This lesson was very hard.
  • We've learned a lot today, we finish many chapters → lessons.
  • We will continue this lesson next week.

Classes

Classes are certain, every day you attend classes, therefore also the lessons. Although classes can be a group of people, mainly that word refers to the daily classes/lessons.

It's not always certain how many lessons you have in one class. This is individually decided.

— What class do you have?
— Photography

— What lesson are you in?
— We have to calculate the value of light measurement for cameras and before that we learned what ISO means and what it does.

Courses

An unknown bundle of classes, but the lessons what to learn/teach are known. Right now, we either finish and understand the lecture or we don't understand it and have to redo the whole course since we could not keep up with other students, or we have to take extra classes to polish the lessons we already have had.

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  • Hi and welcome. Please put more effort into your posts in the future. I tried to fix what I could, but some bits just plain do not make any sense whatsoever, so I have no idea how to fix them.
    – RegDwigнt
    Commented Dec 3, 2012 at 10:01
  • Thnx, maybe I have been writing too much. I'm Dutch so my English isn't that great. If people learn the meanings of words it should be easy to understand: lesson, class, course. I tried too hard to explain it in apparently a retarded way.
    – Ruben
    Commented Dec 7, 2012 at 9:15

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