Multiple meanings of 授業に出る


I noticed that instead of 授業に行く, my textbook uses 授業に出る. Furthermore, when I
checked the dictionary, I found three quite different meanings for 授業に出る:

  * (e.g., a student) go to class
  * (e.g., a professor) teach a class
  * (e.g., a topic) come up in a class

Questions:

  1. How are these three meanings tied to the same verb 出る?

  2. Is there any nuance difference between 行くand 出る in the first meaning?

(If any of the three meanings are not commonly used in spoken Japanese, please
point it out.)




The difference between 行くand 出る in all of the three cases that you posted is
the following:

行く means that there is an actual movement, i.e. someones moves **from**
whatever place **to** the classroom:

> [会社から]日本語の授業に行きました。

In the case of 出る, whatever the meaning you pick up, there is **no movement**.
All the action happens _only_ in the classroom:

  1. (e.g., a student) to **attend** a class (I think that to "go" to a  
class is a misleading translation)

  2. (e.g., a professor) to teach a class
  3. (e.g., a topic) to come up in a class

Some example sentences for each use:

  1. 歴史の授業に出る。 To attend a history lesson.
  2. 田中先生は病気なので、今日の授業に出られない。Professor Tanaka is sick, so he will not teach today's lesson.
  3. この問題は昨日の授業に出た。This problem came up in yesterday's class.

* * *

Finally, to answer your questions, first:

> Is there any nuance difference between 行くand 出る in the first meaning?

It feels somewhat wrong to use 授業に行くto mean "to take a lesson", because the
emphasis is in the action of moving towards the class, rather than the act of
taking the lesson, so I would say they have different meanings altogether.
Also note that for the action of attending lessons in a regular fashion or
under some kind of schedule, there is the verb 通{かよ}う:

> 毎週フランス語の授業に通っている。 I attend French lessons every week.

As for the second question:

> How are these three meanings tied to the same verb 出る?

The point in common between all of this usages of 出る is that, rather than
"going", someone or something (the student, the teacher or the problem)
"appears" in the lesson. In the meaning 1, that would mean "showing up" as a
student in a particular class.

* * *

As I commented in the original question, if you add the full sentence from
your textbook where 授業に出る is used we might be able to help you further.




The difference between 行くand 出る in all of the three cases that you posted is
the following:

行く means that there is an actual movement, i.e. someones moves **from**
whatever place **to** the classroom:

> [会社から]日本語の授業に行きました。

In the case of 出る, whatever the meaning you pick up, there is **no movement**.
All the action happens _only_ in the classroom:

  1. (e.g., a student) to **attend** a class (I think that to "go" to a  
class is a misleading translation)

  2. (e.g., a professor) to teach a class
  3. (e.g., a topic) to come up in a class

Some example sentences for each use:

  1. 歴史の授業に出る。 To attend a history lesson.
  2. 田中先生は病気なので、今日の授業に出られない。Professor Tanaka is sick, so he will not teach today's lesson.
  3. この問題は昨日の授業に出た。This problem came up in yesterday's class.

* * *

Finally, to answer your questions, first:

> Is there any nuance difference between 行くand 出る in the first meaning?

It feels somewhat wrong to use 授業に行くto mean "to take a lesson", because the
emphasis is in the action of moving towards the class, rather than the act of
taking the lesson, so I would say they have different meanings altogether.
Also note that for the action of attending lessons in a regular fashion or
under some kind of schedule, there is the verb 通{かよ}う:

> 毎週フランス語の授業に通っている。 I attend French lessons every week.

As for the second question:

> How are these three meanings tied to the same verb 出る?

The point in common between all of this usages of 出る is that, rather than
"going", someone or something (the student, the teacher or the problem)
"appears" in the lesson. In the meaning 1, that would mean "showing up" as a
student in a particular class.

* * *

As I commented in the original question, if you add the full sentence from
your textbook where 授業に出る is used we might be able to help you further.

