<p>牛(cow) and 羊(goat) are both farm animal; The term '牛羊' is a general term for 'farm animal' including sheep, horse and all others farm animals.</p>
<p>刀(knife) and 剑(sword) are both cold weapon; The term '刀剑' is a general term for 'cold weapon' including axe, spear and all other cold weapons.</p>
<p>书(book) and 籍(record) are both bound written material; The term '书籍' is a general term for 'bound written material'.</p>
<p>To classify written materials more strictly, novel and textbook are 书,  not 籍; Accounting book and record book are 籍, not 书. The term '书籍' refers to everything in book form, including dictionary (典) and all other bound written materials.</p>
<p>In modern Chinese:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>'书籍' is a general term for 'book'</p>
</li>
<li><p>'书刊' is a general terms for 'printed publication'</p>
</li>
<li><p>'书册' and '书本' are general terms for 'bound printed material'</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Examples of when to use '书' and '书籍' in sentences:</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<ol>
<li><p>这是一本园艺<strong>书</strong> (this is a gardening <strong>book</strong>)</p>
</li>
<li><p>所有园艺<strong>书</strong>都在这里 (all the gardening <strong>books</strong> are here)</p>
</li>
<li><p>有关园艺的<strong>书籍</strong>都在这里 (all the <strong>books</strong> related to gardening is here)</p>
</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<p>In #1 and #2 you can use 书 or 书籍 interchangeably, but most of the time people would choose to use one less character and just say XX书 instead of XX书籍</p>
<p>In #3. you can also use 书 or 书籍 interchangeably, but the more general 书籍 is preferred because a reference book or a novel might also relate to gardening.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-03T19:30:08.460Z
2017-07-03T20:41:06.637Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Tang Ho
<p>书: spoken/written language, can/can't be count
书籍: written language, very formal, usually can't be count
BTW, 书 can be a verb means "write".</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-03T13:32:40.297Z
2017-07-03T13:32:40.297Z
Anttrush
<p>I admit I was not familiar with the phrase 书籍, until I used Google translate now to translate 'I like reading all sorts of books' (of course, I take the Google translate translation with a pinch of salt!). But I was wondering why 书籍 was used as opposed to simply 书. I am familiar with the use of 籍 in 国籍 meaning 'country of citizenship' so have an idea of 籍 as meaning 'belonging to' or something of the sort (again, Google translate verifies this as 'membership'). So its use in the phrase 我喜欢读各种书籍 I assume to mean something like 'I like reading books belonging to various categories'.</p>

<p>Is this the general gist? In this case, is the 籍 omittable, or would I have to rephrase the sentence?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-03T12:06:18.840Z
We can omit 籍, especially in spoken language. 我喜欢读各种书。 I like reading all kinds of books. [籍-基本字义 1](http://www.zdic.net/z/20/js/7C4D.htm)
young99
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-03T13:07:44.190Z
[书和书籍有什么区别？](https://www.italki.com/question/174534)
young99
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-03T13:47:19.773Z
see previous Q: What is the difference between 钱 and 金钱 (and 款)? same remark applies to 书／书籍：（a) monosyllabic verb + monosyllabic object: e.g. 看书 （b）disyllabic verb+disyllabic object:e.g. 浏览书籍
（c）monosyllabic verb ＋ disyllabic object 看书籍 （看电影）
（d) ＊disyllabic verb ＋ monosyllabic object: ＊浏览书
user6065
<meaning><meaning-in-context><phrase>
Use of 书 or 书籍 for 'books'
# Use of 书 or 书籍 for 'books'

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-07-03)

I admit I was not familiar with the phrase 书籍, until I used Google translate now to translate 'I like reading all sorts of books' (of course, I take the Google translate translation with a pinch of salt!). But I was wondering why 书籍 was used as opposed to simply 书. I am familiar with the use of 籍 in 国籍 meaning 'country of citizenship' so have an idea of 籍 as meaning 'belonging to' or something of the sort (again, Google translate verifies this as 'membership'). So its use in the phrase 我喜欢读各种书籍 I assume to mean something like 'I like reading books belonging to various categories'.

Is this the general gist? In this case, is the 籍 omittable, or would I have to rephrase the sentence?

**Tags:** meaning, meaning-in-context, phrase

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: We can omit 籍, especially in spoken language. 我喜欢读各种书。 I like reading all kinds of books. [籍-基本字义 1](http://www.zdic.net/z/20/js/7C4D.htm)  
> **username_1**: [书和书籍有什么区别？](https://www.italki.com/question/174534)  
> **username_2**: see previous Q: What is the difference between 钱 and 金钱 (and 款)? same remark applies to 书／书籍：（a) monosyllabic verb + monosyllabic object: e.g. 看书 （b）disyllabic verb+disyllabic object:e.g. 浏览书籍 （c）monosyllabic verb ＋ disyllabic object 看书籍 （看电影） （d) ＊disyllabic verb ＋ monosyllabic object: ＊浏览书  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2017-07-03. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

牛(cow) and 羊(goat) are both farm animal; The term '牛羊' is a general term for 'farm animal' including sheep, horse and all others farm animals.

刀(knife) and 剑(sword) are both cold weapon; The term '刀剑' is a general term for 'cold weapon' including axe, spear and all other cold weapons.

书(book) and 籍(record) are both bound written material; The term '书籍' is a general term for 'bound written material'.

To classify written materials more strictly, novel and textbook are 书, not 籍; Accounting book and record book are 籍, not 书. The term '书籍' refers to everything in book form, including dictionary (典) and all other bound written materials.

In modern Chinese:

* '书籍' is a general term for 'book'
* '书刊' is a general terms for 'printed publication'
* '书册' and '书本' are general terms for 'bound printed material'

**Examples of when to use '书' and '书籍' in sentences:**

> 1. 这是一本园艺**书** (this is a gardening **book**)
> 2. 所有园艺**书**都在这里 (all the gardening **books** are here)
> 3. 有关园艺的**书籍**都在这里 (all the **books** related to gardening is here)

In #1 and #2 you can use 书 or 书籍 interchangeably, but most of the time people would choose to use one less character and just say XX书 instead of XX书籍

In #3. you can also use 书 or 书籍 interchangeably, but the more general 书籍 is preferred because a reference book or a novel might also relate to gardening.


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### Answer by username_4 on 2017-07-03. Score: 0

书: spoken/written language, can/can't be count
书籍: written language, very formal, usually can't be count
BTW, 书 can be a verb means "write".


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