What 什么 means
- What (something - anything)
These meanings come from the same dictionary that powers the Chinese to Pinyin translator and the Chinese to English translator, so a whole sentence containing 什么 will read it the same way this page does.
Character by character
How to write 什么
Stroke order is not decoration — it is what makes handwriting legible and what dictionary lookup by stroke count depends on.
Practise 什么 on printable 田字格 sheets, trace it in the writing practice tool, or watch any other character in the Stroke Order Animator.
什么 in a sentence
Want pinyin above a sentence of your own? Paste it into the Pinyin Annotator.
Words that contain 什么
Questions about 什么
What does 什么 mean in English?
什么 is pronounced shénme and means What (something - anything).
How do you pronounce 什么?
什么 is shénme in pinyin — written shenme without tone marks. Press the audio button on this page to hear it spoken by a native voice.
What are the characters in 什么?
什么 is written with 2 characters: 什 (shén / shí) What (mixed); Tenth ([used in fractions]), 么 (me) ([used in questions]). Knowing the parts is usually how the whole word becomes memorable.
How is 什么 written in traditional Chinese?
什麼. The simplified form 什么 is used in mainland China and Singapore; 什麼 is used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Both are pronounced shénme.
Is 什么 an HSK word?
Yes — 什么 is on the official HSK 1 vocabulary list. You can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 1 page.
What words contain 什么?
Common ones include 为什么 (wèishénme) why?. Each has its own entry on this site.
Studied around the same time
Keep going
Translate a whole sentence containing 什么 with the Chinese to Pinyin translator, study it alongside the rest of HSK 1, drill it with HSK flashcards, or save it above and review it on your review deck.
Browse the dictionary
Every word on this site links to its entry — tap any word in a graded reader, a translation result or an HSK list to land on a page like this one.
Dictionary index