怎 (zěn): how
怎 (zěn) is a Chinese character meaning “how.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 乍 (phonetic) and 心 (semantic). It ranks #382 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 怎 heart. Its radical form 忄 (heart) appears in many related characters such as 忙 (máng, busy), 快 (kuài, fast, happy), 息 (xī, breath).
Definitions
- how
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 怎 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 怎
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 怎么pronoun | zěn me | how? | 1 |
| 怎么样pronoun | zěn me yàng | how? | 1 |
| 怎样pronoun | zěn yàng | how | 3 |
| 怎么办phrase | zěn me bàn | what's to be done | 3 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 不管怎样phrase | bù guǎn zěn yàng | in any case |
| 怎么着pronoun | zěn me zhāo | what? |
| 不怎么adverb | bù zěn me | not very |
| 怎么得了interjection | zěn me dé liǎo | how can this be? |
| 不怎么样adjective | bù zěn me yàng | not up to much |
| 怎么了interjection | zěn me le | What's up? |
| 怎么回事interjection | zěn me huí shì | what's the matter? |
| 怎的 | zěn de | what for |
| 怎能adverb | zěn néng | how can? |
| 怎生adverb | zěn shēng | how |
| 怎么说呢 | zěn me shuō ne | Why is that? |
| 再怎么conjunction | zài zěn me | no matter how ... |
| 此话怎讲 | cǐ huà zěn jiǎng | How do you mean? |
| 怎么搞的 | zěn me gǎo de | How did it happen? |
| 怎一个愁字了得 | zěn yī gè chóu zì liǎo dé | (last line of the poem 聲聲慢|声声慢 by Song poet Li Qingzhao 李清照) |
怎 appears in 20 compound words: 75 as the first character, 0 as the last, and 25 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 怎 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (5)
Example Sentences
这件事该怎么办，我们需要好好商量一下。
Zhè jiàn shì gāi zěnme bàn, wǒmen xūyào hǎohao shāngliang yīxià.
What should be done about this matter? We need to discuss it carefully.
有乳腺增生怎么办能消除吗?“消除”不现实,“控制”是...
yǒu rǔ xiàn zēng shēng zěn má bàn néng xiāo chú ma ? xiāo chú bù xiàn shí , kòng zhì shì . . .
What should I do if there is breast hyperplasia, can it be eliminated?" elimination" is unrealistic, "control" is...
日本m码欧洲m码怎么选合适?这份选码攻略请收好
rì běn m mǎ ōu zhōu m mǎ zěn má xuǎn gě shì ? zhè fèn xuǎn mǎ gōng lüè qǐng shōu hǎo
How to choose the right Japanese M size and European M size? Please keep this code selection guide
乳腺增生要紧吗,要怎么治疗?先做检查再决定是否干预
rǔ xiàn zēng shēng yāo jǐn ma , yāo zěn má zhì liáo ? xiān zuò jiǎn chá zài jué dìng shì fǒu gān yù
Is breast hyperplasia important, and how to treat it? Do an examination before deciding whether to intervene
「春节海采」今年春节怎么过
chūn jié hǎi cǎi jīn nián chūn jié zěn má guò
"How to spend the Spring Festival this year?
...桃、叠衣服、穿烤肠,银河通用春晚机器人是怎么“..
. . . táo dié yī fú chuān kǎo cháng , yín hé tōng yòng chūn wǎn jī qì rén shì zěn má . .
...peaches, folding clothes, grilling sausages—how does the Galaxy Universal Spring Festival Gala robot manage to...
我们去滑雪怎么样？
Wǒmen qù huáxuě zěnmeyàng?
What do you say we go skiing?
你觉得这件毛衣怎么样？
Nǐ juéde zhè jiàn máoyī zěnmeyàng?
What do you think of this sweater?
是谁教她怎么说英语的？
Shì shéi jiāo tā zěnme shuō Yīngyǔ de?
Who taught her how to speak English?
你从来没课还是怎样？
Nǐ cóngláiméi kè háishi zěnyàng?
You never have class or what?!
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 怎 (zěn) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 怎 and 昨?
How many strokes does 怎 have?
What is the radical of 怎?
What are the components of 怎?
What are common words containing 怎?
Is 怎 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 怎 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.