何物 (hé wù) — what thing? what stuff?

Definition

何物 is a literary/classical ‘what thing?’ — used in written or rhetorical questions, not everyday speech. For ordinary conversation, learners should use 什么 instead.

pronoun
what thing? what stuff?

Examples

  • 何物？
    Nǐ shǒu zhōng ná zhe hé wù?
    What is that in your hand?
  • ？
    Cǐ wéi hé wù?
    What is this?
  • 何物。
    Tā bù zhī hé wù wèi zhēn.
    He does not know what is real.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

何héwhat
物wùthing

何 (what) asks about 物 (thing), yielding 'what thing?'

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 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
牛牛niú
Sound part声符shēngfú
勿
勿wù物wù
Same sound today

物 puts 牛 beside 勿: 牛 gives the meaning, and 勿 gives the sound.

Open 物 →

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