啥

shá
口 + 舍
HSK 2.0Level 6

Definitions

shá (particle) what

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 舍 represents the sound.

Semantic: 口 Phonetic: 舍

About

啥 is a phono-semantic compound: the mouth radical 口 signals a connection to speech and spoken language, while the component 舍 (meaning "house" or "hut") supplies the pronunciation. This character does not appear in classical Chinese, having originated as a colloquial contraction of the interrogative phrase 什么 (shénme, "what" or "whatever") in everyday conversation. The mouth radical explicitly marks it as an informal, vernacular word distinct from formal written vocabulary, and it functions as an interrogative pronoun used almost entirely in spoken contexts. Its meaning therefore derives purely from the phonetic rendering of the question, with no semantic link to the dwelling sense of 舍.

Example Sentences Hide

你在看啥书？

Nǐ zài kàn shá shū?

What book are you reading?

他今天吃啥了？

Tā jīntiān chī shá le?

What did he eat today?

你为啥不来啊？

Nǐ wèi shá bù lái ā?

Why didn't you come?

我们明天去干啥？

Wǒmen míngtiān qù gàn shá?

What are we going to do tomorrow?

你知道他说啥了吗？

Nǐ zhīdào tā shuō shá le ma?

Do you know what he said?

不管啥问题，都要解决。

Bùguǎn shá wèntí, dōu yào jiějué.

No matter what problem, it must be solved.

你啥时候有空，我们就见面。

Nǐ shá shíhou yǒu kòng, wǒmen jiù jiànmiàn.

When you are free, we will meet.

我真不知道他啥时候回来。

Wǒ zhēn bù zhīdào tā shá shíhou huílái.

I really don't know when he will come back.

Related Characters

Component: 口

中 和 可 后 如 同 只 知 高 问 向 或 加 合

Component: 舍

舒 猞 舖 騇 倽 捨 舘

Example Words

啥子 为啥