shén​me HSK1

what

什么 什麼 shén​me
variant 甚麼
what pronoun
Used as a question word to ask about the identity, nature, or name of a person or thing.

What made you change your mind?

anything pronoun
Used in a negative sentence or a question to mean 'anything', 'any', or 'something' when the specific thing is unknown or unimportant.
whatever pronoun
Used with dōu or to mean 'any' or 'every'; when used twice in a sentence, the first instance determines the second, meaning 'whatever'.

Whatever you give me I will eat.

what! pronoun
Expresses surprise, disbelief, or dissatisfaction at what has just been said or seen.

What, you know her?

[enumeration] particlepronoun
Used before items in a list to suggest a wide variety or to indicate that the list is not exhaustive.
[rhetorical] pronoun
Used to express disagreement or to challenge a statement, often in response to someone else's words.

What's the use of complaining?

He's just a kid, what does he know?

Frequency

Movie subtitles
7050.4 per million appears in 100% of films
Written text
945.2 per million

Details

HSK 2.0
Level 1
HSK 3.0
Level 1

Cross-References

See

Same as

Synonym

Referenced by

Has abbreviation

Sources