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何人 (hé rén) — (literary) who, whom

Definition

何人 (hé rén) is a literary 'who/whom' — essentially a formal, written substitute for 谁, found in classical-style prose, poetry, and rhetorical questions, not daily speech.

pronoun
(literary) whowhom

Examples

  • 何人？
    hé rén Néng zhī xiǎo qí zhōng de mì mì?
    Who can know the secrets within?
  • 何人？
    Wèn tiān xià hé rén shì yīng xióng?
    Ask the world: who is a hero?
  • 何人。
    Cǐ shì yǔ hé rén wú guān.
    This matter has nothing to do with anyone.

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
人rénperson

何 asks what, and 人 means person; together they ask what person, meaning who.

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.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →
Appears in
People (General)

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