Dictionary › 什么

什么

shén me

Old HSK 1 HSK 3.0 level 1 2-character word Traditional 什麼

什么 (shén me) means "what?". It is an HSK 3.0 level 1 word, and was HSK 1 in the old six-level list.

What 什么 means

1. what?
2. something; anything

How 什么 is used in grammar

什么 is a grammar word. Each link goes to its own section: what it does in that pattern, the structure, three example sentences with pinyin, and the mistake to avoid.

• Wh-Questions: 什么/谁/哪/怎么 (HSK 1)

The official HSK 3.0 grammar outline lists it at level 1, pronouns (疑问代词).

The characters in 什么

• 什shénwhat
• 么mesuffix, used to form interrogative 什么

Example sentences

• 搞什么
  Gǎo shénme
  What's up?
• 什么？
  What?
• 什么！
  What!
• 什么地方
  Shénmedìfang
  What place?
• 为什么？
  Why?
• 这是什么?
  What is this?

Words starting with 什么

• 什么样shén me yàngwhat kind?; what sort?
• 什么事shén me shìWhat's up?; Is something the matter?; (colloquial)…
• 什么人shén me rénwho?; what (kind of) person?
• 什么的shén me deand so on; and so forth; and what not
• 什么鬼shén me guǐ(colloquial) what the hell?; what on earth?…
• 什么地方shén me dì fangsomewhere; someplace; where
• 什么好说shén me hǎo shuōsth pertinent to say
• 什么时候shén me shí houwhen?; at what time?
• 什么风把你吹来的shén me fēng bǎ nǐ chuī lái deWhat brings you here? (idiom)

Words containing 什么

• 为什么wèi shén mewhy?; for what reason?
• 没什么méi shén meit doesn't matter; it's nothing; never mind; think nothing of it; it's my pleasure…
• 干什么gàn shén mewhat are you doing?; what's he up to?
• 凭什么píng shén me(spoken) why?; for which reason?
• 没有什么méi yǒu shén meit is nothing; there's nothing ... about it
• 都什么年代了dōu shén me nián dài leWhat decade are you living in?; That's so out-of-date!
• 没有什么不可能méi yǒu shén me bù kě néngnothing is impossible; there's nothing impossible about it
• 到什么山上，唱什么歌dào shén me shān shàng , chàng shén me gēlit. whatever mountain one is on, one should sing its songs (idiom)…
• 林子大了，什么鸟都有lín zi dà le , shén me niǎo dōu yǒuit takes all sorts (to make a world) (idiom)
• 葫芦里卖的是什么药hú lu lǐ mài de shì shén me yàowhat has (he) got up (his) sleeve?; what's going on?

Where 什么 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of Question Words and Demonstratives (HSK 1), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 1 word, with the rest of its level.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read shén me correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.