什么

什麼

shénme

pronoun HSK 1 #17

Meanings

1 what
2 something
3 anything

Characters

what (interrogative)

interrogative particle

Examples

你叫什么名字？

Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?

What's your name?

你在做什么？

Nǐ zài zuò shénme?

What are you doing?

什么时候出发？

Shénme shíhou chūfā?

When do we leave?

Tips

grammar

什么 stays in the same position as the answer would be — no need to move it to the front of the sentence like in English: 你吃什么？我吃面条。

usage

什么都 means 'anything/everything': 他什么都吃 'He eats everything.' 什么都不 means 'nothing': 我什么都不知道 'I don't know anything.'

Stroke Order

什 shén

么 me