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