(zěn me) - how; why (in rhetorical questions) in Mandarin
zěnmeTraditional: 怎么
Translation
how; why (in rhetorical questions)
Word origin
怎么 (zěnme) 'how, why' joins 怎 (zěn, 'how') and the suffix 么 (me). 怎 is a phono-semantic compound with 心 (xīn, 'heart' radical) under 乍 (zhà) as phonetic; 么 is a light grammatical suffix.
- Origin
- compound
- Root
- 怎 (心 heart radical + 乍 phonetic) + 么 (me, suffix)
Stroke order
怎
么
Examples
？
How do you read this character?
？
How did you get here?
？
Why has he still not called?
？
Why did you not say so earlier?
？
How do you write this character?
Used in
Stories
(5)Grammar articles
(4)Asking How + Adjective in Mandarin with 多: 多高, 多远, 多长, 多大
Mandarin Question Formation: 吗, V-Not-V, 还是, and the In-Situ Wh-Word System
The Mandarin 是…的 (shì...de) Construction: Highlighting When, Where, and How Something Happened
Topic-Comment Structure in Mandarin: Fronting 这本书我看过 and Why Word Order Bends
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Go to my review queueThis word is part of lesson 1.