Word

什么 (shén me) — Chinese word meaning

HSK 1

什么 (shén me) is a Chinese word: what. This page shows its pinyin, translation, example sentences, character breakdown, decomposition, and HSK level.

Meaning of 什么

代 dài pronoun

what

你在做什么?

nǐ zài zuò shén me

What are you doing?

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Word breakdown

什 shén — forms the interrogative pronoun (no independent meaning)

么 me — particle that completes the interrogative pronoun

Structure & writing
1 什 shén — see "什么": ① interrogative pronoun; ② indefinite reference; ③ universal reference (used before 也/都); ④ surprise or dissatisfaction; ⑤ reproach; ⑥ disagreement; ⑦ non-exhaustive enumeration

什 is not used as a component in any other character.

consists of

1.1 亻 rén — person/human radical (standing figure)
亻 is a component in 117 characters
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1.2 十 shí — ten (the number 9+1)
十 is a component in 29 characters
Show more HSK 4 characters (+7)
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Stroke order

2 么 me — suffix

么 is not used as a component in any other character.

consists of

Stroke order