What's the difference between 星期X and 周X?

Question

When accepting an answer, I noticed that the example used the word 周三 for Wednesday, but in my grammar, the days of the week are 星期一, 星期二, etc...

They seem both correct but, what's the difference? Is one more common, or are they simply used in difference situations?

Answer 1

You have 3 methods when talking about the seven days of the week.

1. 星期[X]

2. 礼拜[X]

3. 周[X]

Here, "X" represents "一，二，三,四，五，六" for "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday". For case 1 and 2, X could be "日" or "天" for Sunday,for case 3, X should be "日" for Sunday.

What' the difference?
Well, I think the 星期 and 周 are common to see, while 礼拜 is less but still common(I think it's the personal or regional perference. Thanks for fefe's suggestion). 礼拜 originates from Christianity, and in ordinary life, each type is accepatble.

Why did I use "周三" in that example?
Because I used "本周二" in that example, then why I used "本周二"? When you want to express "this Tuesday", you could say

1. 本周二
2. 这个星期二
3. 这周星期二
4. 本周星期二
   

Each of them is interchangeable. You see, "本周二" is the shortest form, so I used that. When you are talking about the days for a specific week, I think 周 is more common(please note that 周 means week).

Answer 2

I don't feel there is much difference in these two expression. There maybe some personal preference though.

In formal situations, the 星期 version should be preferred.

Answer 3

The difference is that you may use 星期天, but not *周天; and you may use 周末, but not *星期末.

Answer 4

星期X is more written word. 周X is more spoken word. But in most cases, you can switch those words equally.