HSK 1 · Common Objects

书 shū “book” in Chinese

Traditional 書

What 书 means

  1. book
  2. letter
  3. document
  4. to write

Measure word 本 běn or 册 cè · 一本书 yì běn shū

How to say 书

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale书shū1st tone, high and level

书 in a sentence

  1. 那是他们的书。

    Nà shì tāmen de shū.

    That’s their book.

    Sentence #10966774 from Tatoeba

  2. 这是你要找的书。

    Zhè shì nǐ yào zhǎo de shū.

    This is the book you’re looking for.

    Sentence #10696104 from Tatoeba

  3. 你把书给谁了?

    Nǐ bǎ shū gěi shéi le?

    To whom did you give the book?

    Sentence #1899630 from Tatoeba

How 书 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 书 (shū) drawn as one shape
书shūbook

书 is a single shape of 4 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidSimplified from 書: a hand holding a brush 聿 over words: to write, a book.

How to write 书

书 4 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

书 (shū) stroke order chart: each stroke of the character in the order you write it
Stroke order chart for 书 (shū). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 书

Words with 书

More words: Everyday Things

FAQs

书 (shū) means “book” or “letter”. It is an HSK 1 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it shū: shū with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 书 is written 書. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 本 (běn) or 册 (cè). For example, one book is 一本书 (yì běn shū).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type shu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 书 from the suggestions. Typing shu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
书 is an HSK 1 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.