么
3 readings · tap one to hear it
suffix, used to form interrogative 什麼|什么[shen2 me5], what?, indefinite 這麼|这么[zhe4 me5] thus, etc
- HSK 3.0
- Level 1
- Old HSK
- Level 1
- Strokes
- 3
- Radical
- 丿 +2
- Structure
- Top–bottom 上下
- Traditional
- 么
- Common rank
- #1,383
- Unicode
- U+4E48
Sound it out + = · + = · + =
Formation & memory
Break the character into parts you already know.
How 么 is formed
Components 丿 厶
How to remember it
(suffix) · Heisig RSH #670
a drop of + elbow
Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.
Words with 么
The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 干什么 | what are you doing?; what's he up to? | |
| 没什么 | it doesn't matter; it's nothing; never mind; think nothing of it; it's my pleasure; you're… | |
| 什么 | what?; something; anything | |
| 怎么 | how?; what?; why? | |
| 怎么 | variant of 怎麼|怎么[zen3 me5] | |
| 林子大了，什么鸟都有 | it takes all sorts (to make a world) (idiom) | |
| 没有什么不可能 | nothing is impossible; there's nothing impossible about it | |
| 像那么回事儿 | not bad at all; quite impressive | |
| 都什么年代了 | What decade are you living in?; That's so out-of-date! | |
| 什么地方 | somewhere; someplace; where | |
| 到什么山上，唱什么歌 | lit. whatever mountain one is on, one should sing its songs (idiom); fig. when in Rome, do… | |
| 什么好说 | sth pertinent to say | |
| 特么 | euphemistic equivalent of 他媽的|他妈的[ta1 ma1 de5] | |
| 没有什么 | it is nothing; there's nothing ... about it | |
| 多么 | how (wonderful etc); what (a great idea etc); however (difficult it may be etc); (in inter… | |
| 什么人 | who?; what (kind of) person? | |
| 干么 | variant of 幹嘛|干嘛[gan4 ma2] | |
| 什么事 | What's up?; Is something the matter?; (coll.) (used in rhetorical questions of the form 關|… | |
| 那么着 | (do sth) that way; like that | |
| 什么风把你吹来的 | What brings you here? (idiom) |
Sound family
These characters use 么 as their sound component — compare how they read.
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 么 sound part | interrogative particle | |
| 仫 | tribe |