Meaning
what; tenth (used in fractions)
Chinese: 常用于“什么”等疑问词。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “shen” becomes a different word in each tone. 什 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
- 什么shén mewhat?; something; anything
- 没什么méi shén meit doesn't matter; it's nothing; never mind; think nothing of it
- 干什么gàn shén mewhat are you doing?; what's he up to?
- 为什么wèi shén mewhy?; for what reason?
- 什么样shén me yàngwhat kind?; what sort?
More Words
Example Sentence
你在看什么书？Nǐ zài kàn shén me shū?What book are you reading?
你Nǐyou在zàiat看kànto look after什么shén mewhat书shūbook？
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
The person radical 亻 plus 十 (ten): read shén it forms 什么 ‘what’ and 为什么 ‘why’; read shí it means ‘ten; assorted, miscellaneous’ (什锦).
A way to remember it
Almost always in 什么 (what) — shén me.