何 (hé): what, how
何 (hé) is a Chinese character meaning “what, how.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 亻 (structural) and 可 (structural). It ranks #229 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Definitions
- what, how
Stroke Order
Practice writing 何 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 何
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 无论如何 | wú lùn rú hé | (idiom) whatever the case |
| 何时 | hé shí | when |
| 何不 | hé bù | why not? |
| 何处 | hé chù | whence |
| 何况 | hé kuàng | let alone |
| 何必 | hé bì | there is no need |
| 何方 | hé fāng | where? |
| 何在 | hé zài | where? |
| 几何 | jǐ hé | geometry |
| 何故 | hé gù | what for? |
| 何等 | hé děng | what kind? |
| 何去何从 | hé qù hé cóng | what course to follow |
| 何以 | hé yǐ | (literary) why |
| 曾几何时 | céng jǐ hé shí | just a while before |
| 何止 | hé zhǐ | far more than |
何 appears in 100 compound words: 39 as the first character, 31 as the last, and 30 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 何 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (17)
Showing 12 of 17 idioms containing 何.
Example Sentences
无论如何，我们都要保证产品质量，这是公司的底线。
Wúlùn rúhé, wǒmen dōu yào bǎozhèng chǎnpǐn zhìliàng, zhè shì gōngsī de dǐxiàn.
No matter what, we must ensure product quality; this is the company's bottom line.
AI“硬控”春节档,电影为何更有“人味”了
A I yìng kòng chūn jié dàng , diàn yǐng wéi hé gēng yǒu rén wèi le
AI "hard controls" the Spring Festival file, why is the movie more "human"
坐拥百万粉丝的他,为何归零重启,一头扎进金山田野?
zuò yōng bǎi mò fěn sī de tā , wéi hé guī líng chóng qǐ , yī tóu zhā jìn jīn shān tián yě ?
He has millions of followers, why did he go back to zero and reboot, headlong into the Jinshan field?
苏翊鸣:能为中国代表团拿下首金,意义比任何事情都重..
sū 翊 míng néng wéi zhōng guó dài biǎo tuán ná xià shǒu jīn , yì yì bǐ rèn hé shì qíng dū chóng . .
Su Yiming: It means more than anything to get the first gold for the Chinese delegation...
...论|春晚机器人“天团”炸场,这股科技潮为何动..
. . . lún chūn wǎn jī qì rén tiān tuán zhà chǎng , zhè gǔ kē jì cháo wéi hé dòng . .
... The Spring Festival Gala Robotics "Troupe" Blows Up the Arena, Why This Tide of Technology Moves...
伊朗总统:伊朗愿就其核工业和平性质接受任何形式核查
yī lǎng zǒng tǒng yī lǎng yuàn jiù qí hé gōng yè hé píng xìng zhì jiē shòu rèn hé xíng shì hé chá
Iranian President: Iran is willing to accept any form of verification regarding the peaceful nature of its nuclear industry.
你对美国印象如何？
Nǐ duì Měi guó yìnxiàng rúhé?
What is your impression of America?
我就是不道歉，你奈我何？
Wǒ jiùshì bù dàoqiàn, nǐ nài wǒ hé?
I'm not going to apologize. What are you going to do about it?
这个寺庙是何时造的？
Zhège sìmiào shì héshí zào de?
When was this temple built?
你对任何药物过敏吗？
Nǐ duì rènhé yàowù guòmǐn ma?
Are you allergic to any medicine?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 何 (hé) mean in Chinese?
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What characters sound the same as 何 (hé)?
Is 何 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 何 with real-time feedback
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