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之乎者也

Mandarin · pinyin zhī hū zhě yě

(lit.) 之 zhī, 乎 hū, 者 zhě and 也 yě (four grammatical particles of Classical Chinese) (idiom)
(fig.) archaic expressions

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Characters in this entry

之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
乎: hū · interrogative or exclamatory final particle
者: zhě · that which; he who; those who
也: yě · also; classical final particle of strong affirmation or identity

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–1–3–3 · zhi1 hu1 zhe3 ye3

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Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zi1 fu4 ze2 jaa5

Cantonese word readings for 之乎者也. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(metonymic) unintelligible speech or article filled with archaisms; pedantic expressions; grandiloquent speech; semi-incomprehensible talk

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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