Dictionary › 谁

谁

shéi

Old HSK 1 HSK 3.0 character level 1 Character Traditional 誰

谁 (shéi) means "who". It is an HSK 3.0 level 1 word, and was HSK 1 in the old six-level list.

What 谁 means

1. who
2. also pr. shuí

How 谁 is used in grammar

谁 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).

Example sentences

• 谁？
  Who?
• 谁！
  Who!
• 爱谁谁。
  Who cares?
• 她是谁？
  Who is she?
• 他是谁？
  Who is he?
• 谁知道？
  Who knows?

Words starting with 谁

• 谁知shéi zhīwho would have thought; unexpectedly
• 谁知道shéi zhī dàoGod knows...; Who would have imagined...?
• 谁料shéi liàowho would have thought that; who would have expected that
• 谁人乐队Shéi rén yuè duìThe Who (1960s UK rock band)
• 谁怕谁shéi pà shéibring it on!; who's afraid?
• 谁笑到最后，谁笑得最好shéi xiào dào zuì hòu , shéi xiào dé zuì hǎoHe laughs best who laughs last.
• 谁笑在最后，谁笑得最好shéi xiào zài zuì hòu , shéi xiào dé zuì hǎoHe laughs best who laughs last.

Words containing 谁

• 阿谁ā shuíwho
• 爱谁谁ài shéi shéi(colloquial) whatever; who cares
• 没谁了méi séi le(colloquial) nobody can beat that; extraordinary; remarkable
• 人谁无过rén shéi wú guòEveryone makes mistakes (idiom)
• 花落谁家huā luò shéi jiāwho will be the winner?
• 鹿死谁手lù sǐ shéi shǒulit. at whose hand will the deer die (idiom); fig. who will emerge victorious

Characters built on 隹

These share the phonetic component 隹 (zhuī), which is why their readings rhyme. Learning them as a family is far cheaper than learning them one at a time.

• 维wéito preserve; to maintain; to hold together
• 唯wéionly; alone; -ism (in Chinese, a prefix, often combined with a suffix such as 主义
• 惟wéi-ism; only
• 帷wéicurtain; screen

Characters that look like 谁

Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.

• 娘niángmother; young lady; (colloquial) effeminate
• 悔huǐ(bound form) to regret; to repent
• 惟wéi-ism; only
• 淮Huáiname of a river
• 谑xuèjoy; to joke; to banter
• 堀kūcave; hole

Where 谁 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of Question Words and Demonstratives (HSK 1), HSK 1 Characters · Set 12 (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.
• How characters are built from components.
• How to learn Chinese characters.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read shéi correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.