Kilo Lingo

怎

zěn

Traditional: 怎

#1217 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

how, why (bound form)

Word origin

A phono-semantic compound with the heart radical 心 below, hinting at the mind questioning, and 乍 (zhà) supplying the sound. It rarely stands alone, appearing chiefly in 怎么 and 怎样.

Origin
phono-semantic compound
Root
乍 (zhà, phonetic) + 心 (xīn, heart)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 怎

怎

Examples

？

How do you see this matter?

？

Why have you still not come?

。

I do not know what to do.

？

How could he possibly know?

？

How have you been lately?

怎 (zěn) means how or why and is a bound form. It almost always appears in compounds such as 怎么 and 怎样.

Appears in 6 words

Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 怎.

怎么zěnmehow怎么zěn mehow; why (in rhetorical questions)怎么样zěn me yànghow, what do you think, how about怎样zěn yànghow, in what way, what kind怎么办zěn me bànwhat to do, what should be done怎么回事zěn me huí shìwhat's going on, what's the matter

Used in

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This word is part of lesson 25.