<p>As other explained,"读书好"</p>

<p>reading is good</p>

<p>"好读书"</p>

<p>love reading</p>

<p>But "读好书” is ambiguious,which may mean "read good books",or "excellent at reading or at learning"</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-21T06:35:35.697Z
+1 for the interesting viewpoint. But the translation for `读好+书` was a little misleading. I think it would be better to clarify that, it doesn't emphasize "one should have to be excellent at reading/learning" but only suggests "one should make effort in learning/reading".
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-21T11:21:14.320Z
读书好(hao3)。 好(hao4)读书。读,好(hao3)书“read good books”,读好，(hao3)书"one should have to be excellent at reading/learning"。 I suggest the "read good books" for 读好书.
eccstartup
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-15T07:29:12.790Z
读好书 in Cantonese means "do well in learning".
Joshua LI
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-21T03:41:15.257Z
2013-07-21T03:41:15.257Z
XL _At_Here_There
<p>读书好 好读书 读好书</p>

<p>Believe in reading, love reading, and cultivate reading.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-16T23:48:20.403Z
This is the best translation I could get. I am sure I would be able to make it better if English were my native language.
孤影萍踪
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-17T00:47:02.930Z
Thanks. I'm asking this question here because there are native speakers. That's why I explained the meaning of "好", and expected someone to give me a more "native" answer. I'm a Chinese, too. By the way, your answers are excellent~ While I can speak both Chinese and English, I cannot find a way to explain in detail why Chinese is used in a certain way. Anyway, I'm trying to contribute to this community...
Paul Allen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-16T23:43:53.700Z
2013-05-16T23:43:53.700Z
孤影萍踪
<p>There are often idioms in both languages that have the same meaning and many of the same words, but here are three expressions in one utterance. That means the chances of finding a <em>tight</em> translation are small.</p>

<p>You probably have to chose whether to focus on translating the whole meaning, or building a less connected expression that contains many of the same words.</p>

<p>Here is a little of both:</p>

<ul>
<li>reading is good,</li>
<li>so have a good read,</li>
<li>read the whole book</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-26T15:37:14.317Z
Btw, I think the question fits just fine here. Translation and analyzing expressions are among the best ways to learn. Someone without Chinese skills might not have much to contribute to a translation of this. It wouldn't hurt to attract some native Chinese users either.
fivecode
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-28T12:11:18.943Z
Thanks a lot. I've asked the same question on ELL as NS.X. suggested and got my answer.
Paul Allen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-28T13:07:57.603Z
That's good. Looks like I got the last part wrong anyway. Hey, since we have you here, could 读好书 mean to finish a book, or does it have to be 读完? Do you know any rules for when to use 好, and when to use 完, when describing completion?
fivecode
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-30T09:50:08.700Z
In this sentence, 读好书 merely means that we should read high-quality books that are beneficial to us, then whether you finish reading（读完） them is another question. When describing completion, we seldom use 好 in written words. But whenever you hear “好了” in a sentence, you may try to associate that with the meaning "... is done". E.g. 饭做好了。（The meal is ready.）; 今天的作业做好了/做完了。（I've finished today's homework.） In written forms, “完” is more formal than “好”, and in oral forms, I'm afraid there is no certain rules. We do not say “饭做完了” but we say “今天的作业做完了”, so it's just a matter of idiomatic usage.
Paul Allen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-30T09:54:57.497Z
By the way, the answer I got from "there" was "Reading is lovely, love reading, read lovely books" or "Reading is awesome, be awesome at reading, read awesome books".
Paul Allen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-31T09:51:06.377Z
@52Dora Thanks! Good explanation.
fivecode
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-26T15:31:25.587Z
2013-05-26T15:31:25.587Z
fivecode
<p>@yushulx very common and right answer</p>

<p>读书好 -> Reading book is good and important, also mean learn everything is good</p>

<p>好读书 -> after knew reading book is important, you became love read book, and learn from everything</p>

<p>读好书 -> you read lots of book, then you know which is <strong>Excellent book</strong>, and only <strong>Excellent book</strong> will help you more.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-19T06:02:32.033Z
2013-07-19T06:07:39.180Z
2013-07-19T06:07:39.180Z
zhuqling
<p>"读书好" </p>

<pre><code>reading is good
</code></pre>

<p>"好读书" </p>

<pre><code>love reading
</code></pre>

<p>"读好书”?</p>

<pre><code>read good books
</code></pre>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-17T19:28:43.593Z
Yushulx, welcome to Chinese SE. Please elaborate on your answer or provide it as a comment. Thank you.
user3871
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-17T14:19:41.527Z
2013-07-17T14:19:41.527Z
yushulx
<p>A famous Chinese writer whose pen name is Bingxin once remarked, "读书好 好读书 读好书", which is used to encourage Chinese students to read books.</p>

<p>In this sentence, there are altogether 3 "好"s. The first and the third, both pronounced as "hǎo", are used as adj. to describe "reading" and "book" respectively. And the second one, pronouced as "hào", is used as a verb to persuade us to read.</p>

<p>Is there any good translation for this saying in English?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-24T06:57:09.863Z
The Chinese sentence provided is easy to translate, which is why this question has many simple answers. Can you please reword your question to make clear what you are after that cannot be provided by a standard translation otherwise it may be closed as being too general (questions which can be answered by a dictionary).
going
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-25T00:28:45.170Z
This question is off-topic because it is asking for a specialized English translation. Accurate English translations are already provided but are not what the OP is after. Question has already been re-asked on the ELL site.
going
<translation>
How to translate "读书好 好读书 读好书"?
# How to translate "读书好 好读书 读好书"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-05-16)

A famous Chinese writer whose pen name is Bingxin once remarked, "读书好 好读书 读好书", which is used to encourage Chinese students to read books.

In this sentence, there are altogether 3 "好"s. The first and the third, both pronounced as "hǎo", are used as adj. to describe "reading" and "book" respectively. And the second one, pronouced as "hào", is used as a verb to persuade us to read.

Is there any good translation for this saying in English?

Thanks.

**Tags:** translation

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The Chinese sentence provided is easy to translate, which is why this question has many simple answers. Can you please reword your question to make clear what you are after that cannot be provided by a standard translation otherwise it may be closed as being too general (questions which can be answered by a dictionary).  
> **username_1**: This question is off-topic because it is asking for a specialized English translation. Accurate English translations are already provided but are not what the OP is after. Question has already been re-asked on the ELL site.  

---

## 5 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2013-07-21. Score: 3

As other explained,"读书好"

reading is good

"好读书"

love reading

But "读好书” is ambiguious,which may mean "read good books",or "excellent at reading or at learning"

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: +1 for the interesting viewpoint. But the translation for `读好+书` was a little misleading. I think it would be better to clarify that, it doesn't emphasize "one should have to be excellent at reading/learning" but only suggests "one should make effort in learning/reading".  
> **username_4**: 读书好(hao3)。 好(hao4)读书。读,好(hao3)书“read good books”,读好，(hao3)书"one should have to be excellent at reading/learning"。 I suggest the "read good books" for 读好书.  
> **username_5**: 读好书 in Cantonese means "do well in learning".  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2013-05-16. Score: 2

读书好 好读书 读好书

Believe in reading, love reading, and cultivate reading.

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: This is the best translation I could get. I am sure I would be able to make it better if English were my native language.  
> **username_0**: Thanks. I'm asking this question here because there are native speakers. That's why I explained the meaning of "好", and expected someone to give me a more "native" answer. I'm a Chinese, too. By the way, your answers are excellent~ While I can speak both Chinese and English, I cannot find a way to explain in detail why Chinese is used in a certain way. Anyway, I'm trying to contribute to this community...  

---

### Answer by username_7 on 2013-05-26. Score: 1

There are often idioms in both languages that have the same meaning and many of the same words, but here are three expressions in one utterance. That means the chances of finding a *tight* translation are small.

You probably have to chose whether to focus on translating the whole meaning, or building a less connected expression that contains many of the same words.

Here is a little of both:

* reading is good,
* so have a good read,
* read the whole book

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: Btw, I think the question fits just fine here. Translation and analyzing expressions are among the best ways to learn. Someone without Chinese skills might not have much to contribute to a translation of this. It wouldn't hurt to attract some native Chinese users either.  
> **username_0**: Thanks a lot. I've asked the same question on ELL as NS.X. suggested and got my answer.  
> **username_7**: That's good. Looks like I got the last part wrong anyway. Hey, since we have you here, could 读好书 mean to finish a book, or does it have to be 读完? Do you know any rules for when to use 好, and when to use 完, when describing completion?  
> **username_0**: In this sentence, 读好书 merely means that we should read high-quality books that are beneficial to us, then whether you finish reading（读完） them is another question. When describing completion, we seldom use 好 in written words. But whenever you hear “好了” in a sentence, you may try to associate that with the meaning "... is done". E.g. 饭做好了。（The meal is ready.）; 今天的作业做好了/做完了。（I've finished today's homework.） In written forms, “完” is more formal than “好”, and in oral forms, I'm afraid there is no certain rules. We do not say “饭做完了” but we say “今天的作业做完了”, so it's just a matter of idiomatic usage.  
> **username_0**: By the way, the answer I got from "there" was "Reading is lovely, love reading, read lovely books" or "Reading is awesome, be awesome at reading, read awesome books".  
> **username_7**: @52Dora Thanks! Good explanation.  

---

### Answer by username_8 on 2013-07-19. Score: 0

@username_9 very common and right answer

读书好 -> Reading book is good and important, also mean learn everything is good

好读书 -> after knew reading book is important, you became love read book, and learn from everything

读好书 -> you read lots of book, then you know which is **Excellent book**, and only **Excellent book** will help you more.


---

### Answer by username_9 on 2013-07-17. Score: 0

"读书好"

```
reading is good

```

"好读书"

```
love reading

```

"读好书”?

```
read good books

```

> **Comments:**
> **username_10**: username_9, welcome to Chinese SE. Please elaborate on your answer or provide it as a comment. Thank you.  

---

