Ways to say it
| Spanish | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| estudiante | /estuˈdjante/ | feminine, masculine |
| alumno | /aˈlumno/ | masculine |
| discente | /disˈθente/ /diˈsente/ |
masculine |
| educando | /eduˈkando/ | feminine, masculine |
| alumna | /aˈlumna/ | feminine |
| universitario | /unibeɾsiˈtaɾjo/ | masculine |
The term refers to a person enrolled at a school, university or other educational institution. While estudiante is a general term for anyone studying at any level, universitario is used specifically to denote a student attending a university.
Which one should you use?
Estudiante is a neutral, general term for any student. In contrast, alumno or alumna often implies a specific student-teacher relationship within a particular classroom or institution. Discente and educando are specialized terms used in much more formal or technical contexts.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
Alumno is a formal term for student. For highly formal, academic or pedagogical contexts, you may encounter discente or educando, which is a formal term used in educational theory to refer to a person undergoing education.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Argentina, alumno is frequently utilized, while in Mexico, the term estudiante is commonly used.
How does it change in a sentence?
Estudiante is a common gender noun, meaning it uses the same form for both masculine and feminine subjects, with only the article (such as el/la) changing. Alumno is the masculine form, and alumna is its specific feminine singular counterpart.
How do you pronounce it?
/estuˈdjante/
Did you know?
- The word alumno is a direct descendant of the Latin word alumnus, which originally referred to a person being nourished or fostered.
- In many Spanish-speaking countries, a person who has graduated is still referred to as an alumno of that institution.
- The word estudio can mean both the act of studying and the physical room or office where one works. This means a student can be in their estudio to perform their estudio.
Examples in context
- No soy una alumna.I'm not a student.This sentence is useful for practicing the feminine form alumna.Tatoeba #1876155 by marcelostockle, translation #258994 by CK
- No es un estudiante.He is not a student.This sentence is useful for practicing the masculine form estudiante.Tatoeba #2374530 by Shishir, translation #2730657 by afyodor
- No soy un estudiante.I am not a student.Tatoeba #509629 by Shishir, translation #1354298 by bapouy
- Instituto Barcelona tiene más de mil alumnos matriculados este año.Barcelona Institute has over a thousand enrolled students this year.
- El profesor felicitó a todos los estudiantes por su excelente desempeño.The teacher congratulated all the students for their excellent performance.
- Pedro es un chico muy inteligente y muy buen estudiante.Pedro is a smart guy and a very good student.
- 345 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lucía and Javier are meeting for the first time at a university cafe.
- LucíaHola, soy Lucía. ¿Eres estudiante aquí?Hi, I'm Lucía. Are you a student here?
- JavierSí, soy estudiante de medicina.Yes, I am a medical student.
- Lucía¡Qué bien! Yo soy estudiante de arte.That's great! I am an art student.
- JavierMucho gusto, Lucía.Nice to meet you, Lucía.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “student” translations and entries estudiante, alumno, discente, educando, alumna, universitario, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries alumno, discente, estudiante, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
