读书 meaning in English

dúshū

to read a book; to study

HSK 1Traditional 讀書14 strokes

Meaning of 读书

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

dúshū

to read a book
to study
to attend school

How to use 读书

读书 can mean literally reading books, but it very often means studying or going to school. People use it to talk about being a student, as in 他还在读书 (tā hái zài dúshū), "He is still in school."

读书 is two simple parts: 读 (dú) means to read, and 书 (shū) means book. Picture yourself reading a book, and you have the basic meaning.

Common mistake: Learners often use 读书 for reading anything, but it sounds odd with newspapers or messages. For those, say 看报纸 (kàn bàozhǐ) or just 看 (kàn). Also keep the tones straight: 读 is second tone (dú) and 书 is first tone (shū).

读书 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

你nǐ必bì须xū用yòng功gōng读dú书shū赶gǎn上shàng同tóng学xué。

You have to study hard to catch up with your class.

我wǒ回huí到dào家jiā的de时shí候hòu，Ken正zhèng在zài读dú书shū。

Ken was reading when I came home.

我wǒ每měi天tiān读dú书shū大dà约yuē两liǎng个gè小xiǎo时shí。

I study about two hours every day.

当dāng我wǒ读dú书shū的de时shí候hòu，我wǒ睡shuì著zhù了le。

While I was reading, I fell asleep.

读dú书shū可kě以yǐ学xué会huì很hěn多duō生shēng字zì。

Many words are acquired through reading.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

读 dú · to read out · 10 strokes

书 shū · book · 4 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 读书.

图书馆	túshūguǎn	library
书店	shūdiàn	bookstore
书包	shūbāo	schoolbag; satchel
读音	dúyīn	pronunciation; literary (rather than colloquial) pronunciation of a Chinese character
读者	dúzhě	reader
书架	shūjià	bookshelf
秘书	mìshū	secretary
阅读	yuèdú	to read
通知书	tōngzhīshū	written notice
证书	zhèngshū	credentials; certificate
书桌	shūzhuō	desk
朗读	lǎngdú	to read aloud

Questions about 读书

What does 读书 mean?

读书 (dúshū) means "to read a book; to study".

How do you write 读书?

读书 is made of 2 characters: 读 (10 strokes), 书 (4 strokes). That is 14 strokes in total.

Is 读书 an HSK word?

Yes. 读书 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How is 读书 written in traditional Chinese?

In traditional characters, 读书 is written 讀書.

What is the difference between 读书 and 看书?

看书 (kànshū) usually means reading a book, often silently or casually. 读书 can mean the same thing, but it is also the common way to say studying or attending school.

Can I put words between 读 and 书?

Yes. 读书 works like a verb plus object, so you can say 读了三年书 (dú le sān nián shū), "studied for three years," or 读什么书 (dú shénme shū), "read what kind of book."