Meaning
carry; what; how; why; which
Chinese: 什么、为什么。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “he” becomes a different word in each tone. 何 is the 2nd tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 任何rèn héany; whatever; whichever
- 如何rú héhow; what way; what
- 何必hé bìthere is no need; why should
- 何况hé kuànglet alone; to say nothing of; besides; what's more
- 为何wèi héwhy
Example Sentence
你为何这么晚才来？Nǐ wèi hé zhè me wǎn cái lái?Why did you come so late?
你Nǐyou为何wèi héwhy这么zhè meso much晚wǎnevening才cáiability来láito come？
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
The person radical 亻 plus 可 (sound): a literary question word — ‘what, which, how, why, where’ (如何, 何时, 为何).
A way to remember it
The bookish ‘what / how / why’: 如何 (how), 为何 (why).