何如 (hé rú) — how about?; what do you think?; wouldn't it be better to...?

Definition

A literary, written-style way to ask 'how about...?' or 'what do you think?' — softer and more rhetorical than everyday 你觉得怎么样.

verb
how about?what do you think?wouldn't it be better to...?

Examples

  • 何如？
    Wǒ men zhōu mò qù pá shān hé rú?
    How about going hiking this weekend?
  • 何如？
    Nǐ jué de zhè ge fāng àn hé rú?
    What do you think of this plan?
  • 何如？
    Huàn yì zhǒng fāng fǎ hé rú?
    Wouldn't it be better to try another method?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

何héwhat
如rúlike

何 (what) and 如 (like) combine to ask how something is or what one thinks.

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
女
女nǚ如rú
Same sound today

如 is built from 口 (mouth) for its meaning and 女 (woman) for its sound.

Open 如 →

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