何日 (hé rì) — (literary interrogative) what day? which day?

Definition

Literary/poetic 'what day? which day?' — used in classical or formal writing, not in everyday speech. Functions as a set interrogative phrase rather than a modern pronoun.

pronoun
(literary interrogative) what day? which day?

Examples

  • 何日？
    hé rì Cái néng zài jiàn dào nǐ?
    Which day will I be able to see you again?
  • 何日。
    Bù zhī hé rì shì guī qī.
    I don't know which day is the day of return.
  • 何日？
    hé rì Yǔ jūn gòng yǐn yì bēi?
    What day shall I drink a cup with you?

Origin

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The old form of 何 drew a person carrying something on their shoulder. If the carried thing was a 戈, the 人 and 戈 parts together showed that picture.

Open 何 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

日 originally drew the sun. A mark was added inside to tell it apart from similar square shapes.

Open 日 →

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