shén
me
(Mandarin)
(Cantonese)

什麼 (Traditional: 什麼)

HSK 1

Dictionary

what?/something; anything

Examples

你在看什么?

Nǐ zài kàn shén me?

What are you looking at?

我饿了,想吃点什么。

Wǒ è le, xiǎng chī diǎn shén me.

I'm hungry, I want to eat something.

Did You Know?

Word Order

Word Formation

什 means 'what' (in compounds) and 么 is a suffix for question words.

Usage Tips

什么 usually goes after the verb: 你吃什么?(What do you eat?), not before — unlike English 'what' which starts the sentence.