某

mǒu

木 + 甘

HSK 2.0Level 5

HSK 3.0Level 5

Definitions

mǒu (adjective) some; certain; such-and-such

mǒu (pronoun) someone; somebody

Etymology

Depicts a sweet (甘) fruit in a tree (木). Based on the original meaning "plum", now written as 梅. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

About

The character 某 has an etymological origin distinct from its current function as an indefinite pronoun meaning "a certain" or "some". Structurally, it combines 甘 (gān, sweet) above the radical 木 (mù, wood/tree), originally picturing a sweet fruit on a tree, the early form for "plum". Through phonetic borrowing, this meaning was transferred to the later character 梅, while 某 was repurposed grammatically. Today, it refers to an unspecified person, object, or time without naming specifics.

Etymology Hide

Bronze Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

某个人在敲门。

Mǒu gè rén zài qiāo mén.

Someone is knocking at the door.

我去了某个地方。

Wǒ qùle mǒu gè dìfāng.

I went to some place.

他在某公司工作。

Tā zài mǒu gōngsī gōngzuò.

He works at a certain company.

我们需要某些帮助。

Wǒmen xūyào mǒu xiē bāngzhù.

We need some help.

某天我会告诉你。

Mǒu tiān wǒ huì gàosù nǐ.

Someday I will tell you.

这本书是某位作家写的。

Zhè běn shū shì mǒu wèi zuòjiā xiě de.

This book was written by a certain writer.

在某个特定的情况下，我们可以这样做。

Zài mǒu gè tèdìng de qíngkuàng xià, wǒmen kěyǐ zhèyàng zuò.

Under certain specific circumstances, we can do this.

据某权威机构报道，这种现象正在增加。

Jù mǒu quánwēi jīgòu bàodào, zhè zhǒng xiànxiàng zhèngzài zēngjiā.

According to a certain authoritative institution, this phenomenon is increasing.

Related Characters

Composed characters:

Component: 木

Component: 甘

某