何
Characters in this entry
- 何
- hé · what, why, where, which, how
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
2 · he2
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
Sentences in context
Exact source-spelling matches. Open the reader for dictionary lookups, construction notes and related examples. Occurrence does not establish a particular dictionary sense.
Read this spelling in Classical texts
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.
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 7 senses · 2 Cantonese readings
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
ho4 · ho6
Cantonese word readings for 何. 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.
character
- (literary, interrogative pronoun asking for the specification of an identity, quantity, quality, etc. of something) what; which
- (literary) where; what place
- (literary, interrogative pronoun asking for reason, manner, etc. of an action) why; how
- (literary, forming emphatic sentences) so; such; what; how
- a surname
character
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) original form of 荷 (“to carry”)
character
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) original form of 呵 (“to scold; to criticise; to denounce”)
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack