pronoun #1,723

Meanings

  1. 1 what; which
  2. 2 how; why
  3. 3 where (literary)

Examples

Rènhérén dōu kěyǐ cānjiā.
Anyone can participate.
Rúhé jiějué zhège wèntí?
How to solve this problem?
Hébì zhèmezhāo jí?
Why be in such a hurry?

Tips

usage
is the literary/formal equivalent of question words like 什么 and 怎么. Common compounds: 任何 (any), 如何 (how), 何必 (why bother), 为何 (why). It appears more in writing than speech.

Components

radical
rén
person (left radical form)
Left person radical (Kangxi #9 in standing form) — the indexing radical. Originally pictured a person carrying a load on the shoulder ( was the yoke); the interrogative 'what, why' is a phonetic loan that displaced the carry-sense, which migrated to with grass added. Same radical groups , , , .
phonetic
can; may; permissible
Right phonetic (kě) — supplies the sound, shifting tone-and-onset to hé. Same phonetic family as (hé river), (gē sing), (gē brother), (kē harsh). Recognising on the right unlocks the kě/hé/gē cluster. Originally a yoke pictograph carried on the shoulder; the modern 'can/may' meaning is a separate development.

Stroke Order