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怎麼樣

简怎么样 · 繁怎麼樣

Mandarin · pinyin zěn me yàng

how?
how about?
how was it?
how are things?

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Characters in this entry

怎: zěn · what? why? how?
麼: me · interrogative final particle; insignificant, small, tiny
樣: yàng · shape, form, pattern, style
么: me · interrogative particle; small
样: yàng · shape, form, pattern, style

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

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Mandarin tones

3–5–4 · zen3 me5 yang4

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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.

怎麼樣 · find source passages ↗ · 怎么样 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 4 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zam2 mo1 joeng6

Cantonese word readings for 怎麼樣. 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.

pron

how; what; in what way
how about; what about
(used in the negative or in rhetorical questions) (not) up to much

intj

(colloquial) how's it going?; how are you?

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

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