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怎麼得了

简怎么得了 · 繁怎麼得了

Mandarin · pinyin zěn me dé liǎo

how can this be?
what's to be done?
what an awful mess!

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Characters in this entry

怎: zěn · what? why? how?
麼: me · interrogative final particle; insignificant, small, tiny
得: dé · obtain, get, gain, acquire
了: le · to finish; particle of completed action
么: me · interrogative particle; small

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

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Mandarin tones

3–5–2–3 · zen3 me5 de2 liao3

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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.

怎麼得了 · find source passages ↗ · 怎么得了 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

intj

how could it be

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

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