什么
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.

是什么让你改主意了？

shì shén​me ràng nǐ gǎi zhǔ​yi le?

What made you change your mind?

这个工作到底是什么？

zhè​ge gōng​zuò dào​dǐ shì shén​me?

What is this job exactly?

anything pronoun
Used in a negative sentence or a question to mean 'anything', 'any', or 'something' when the specific thing is unknown or unimportant.

你从来什么都不知道。

nǐ cóng​lái shén​me dōu bù​zhī​dào.

You never know anything.

我什么地方都不想去。

wǒ shén​me dì​fang dōu bù​xiǎng qù.

I don't want to go anywhere.

whatever pronoun
Used with 都 dōu or 也 yě to mean 'any' or 'every'; when used twice in a sentence, the first instance determines the second, meaning 'whatever'.

不管你给什么我都吃。

bù​guǎn nǐ gěi shén​me wǒ dōu chī.

Whatever you give me I will eat.

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

什么，你认识她？

shén​me, nǐ rèn​shi tā?

What, you know her?

什么，你认为我不喜欢钱吗？

shén​me, nǐ rèn​wéi wǒ bù xǐ​huan qián ma?

What, you don't think I like money?

[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.

抱怨有什么用？

bào​yuàn yǒu shén​me yòng?

What's the use of complaining?

他还是个孩子，他懂什么？

tā hái​shi ge hái​zi, tā dǒng shén​me?

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

Same as

Sources
Frequency data
SUBTLEX-CHBCC Corpus (BLCU)