専せん攻こう

せ

ん

こ

う

Common wordJLPTN3Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

専攻する · noun or participle which takes 'suru'

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	専せん攻こうする	専せん攻こうしない
Polite	専せん攻こうします	専せん攻こうしません
Past polite	専せん攻こうしました	専せん攻こうしませんでした
Past	専せん攻こうした	専せん攻こうしなかった
Te-form	専せん攻こうして	専せん攻こうしないで
Desire	専せん攻こうしたい	専せん攻こうしたくない
Potential	専せん攻こうできる	専せん攻こうできない
Passive	専せん攻こうされる	専せん攻こうされない
Causative	専せん攻こうさせる	専せん攻こうさせない
Causative passive	専せん攻こうさせられる	専せん攻こうさせられない
Volitional	専せん攻こうしよう
Polite volitional	専せん攻こうしましょう
Imperative	専せん攻こうしろ	専せん攻こうするな
Conditional	専せん攻こうすれば	専せん攻こうしなければ
Tara conditional	専せん攻こうしたら	専せん攻こうしなかったら

Meanings

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', transitive verb, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'

major; specialization; field of study

Refers to a student's main academic subject at university or a researcher's specialized field. Used as a noun, with する to mean 'to major in', and as a no-adjective.

大だい学がくでは経けい済ざい学がくを専せん攻こうしています。
I am majoring in economics at university.
彼かれの専せん攻こうは物ぶつ理り学がくです。
His major is physics.
専せん攻こう科か目もくを選えらぶのに悩なやんでいる。
I'm having trouble choosing my major subject.

See all 955 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

〈事こと〉を専せん攻こうするto major in (a subject)
大だい学がくで経けい済ざい学がくを専せん攻こうしている。
I'm majoring in economics at university.
専せん攻こうは〈事こと〉だone's major is (a subject)
私わたしの専せん攻こうは生せい物ぶつ学がくです。
My major is biology.
専せん攻こうを変かえるto change one's major
彼かれは二に年ねん生せいの時ときに専せん攻こうを変かえた。
He changed his major in his second year.

Kanji

専specialty, exclusive, mainly
攻aggression, attack, criticize

Related words

専せん門もんN5
専門 is a broader term for one's specialty or area of expertise, often used in professional contexts, while 専攻 specifically refers to an academic major or field of study at a university.
専せん修しゅうN1
専攻 is the everyday word for a university major or academic specialization, while 専修 is more formal and often appears in official course titles.
学がっ科かN3
専攻 is the specific field a student chooses to major in, whereas 学科 is the institutional course or department in which that major is offered.

Don't confuse with

学がっ科かN3
学科 refers to the academic department or curriculum division a student belongs to, whereas 専攻 refers to the specific subject or field the student is majoring in within that department.
閃せん光こう
専攻 (せんこう) means 'academic major' and is pronounced identically to 閃光, but the two words are unrelated in meaning.

Word family

副ふく専せん攻こう
minor; sub-major
専せん攻こう医い
resident physician in specialty training
専せん攻こう科か
advanced course; postgraduate non-degree program

Etymology

From 専 (solely, exclusively) and 攻 (study, research), literally 'specialized study'. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the kanji combination naturally conveys the modern meaning.