何种 (hé zhǒng) — what kind of; which (formal, used to ask about type or selection)

Definition

何种 is the formal, written equivalent of 什么 ('what kind of'), used in official, academic, or literary contexts rather than everyday speech.

pronoun
what kind ofwhich (formal, used to ask about type or selection)

Examples

  • 何种？
    Nǐ xiǎng cǎi yòng hé zhǒng fāng shì lái jiě jué zhè ge wèn tí?
    What kind of approach do you want to use to solve this problem?
  • ，何种？
    Zài zhòng duō fāng àn zhōng, nǐ qīng xiàng yú hé zhǒng fāng àn?
    Among the many plans, which one do you prefer?
  • 何种？
    Zhè zhǒng cái liào néng mǎn zú hé zhǒng chéng dù de nài rè yāo qiú?
    What level of heat resistance can this material meet?

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
种zhǒngkind

何 asks what, and 种 means kind; together they ask which kind of thing is meant.

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
禾禾hérice
Sound part声符shēngfú
中
中zhōng种zhǒng
Same sound today

种 pairs 禾, which shows rice or grain and fits meanings like plant and seed, with 中, which gives its sound.

Open 种 →

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