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谁知 (shuí zhī) — who knows? (expressing uncertainty or doubt); who would have thought? (marking an unexpected outcome)

Definition

A literary/literary-adjacent verb meaning 'who would have thought?' — used to flag an unexpected turn. Stronger sense of surprise than the everyday 不知道 (bù zhī dào), which just says 'don't know'.

verb
who knows? (expressing uncertainty or doubt)who would have thought? (marking an unexpected outcome)

Examples

  • 谁知？
    shuí zhī Jié guǒ huì shì zhè yàng?
    Who would have thought the result would be like this?
  • ，谁知。
    Tā yuán běn dǎ suàn qù, shuí zhī lín shí gǎi biàn le zhǔ yì.
    He originally planned to go, but who knew? He changed his mind at the last minute.
  • 谁知，。
    shuí zhī Míng tiān shì fǒu huì xià yǔ, hái shì dài bǎ sǎn ba.
    Who knows if it'll rain tomorrow? Better bring an umbrella.

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.

谁shuíwho
知zhīknow

The “谁” part gives who and “知” part gives know, together meaning who knows or who would have thought.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 誰; 谁 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeak
Sound part声符shēngfú
隹
隹zhuī誰shuí
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 誰 pairs 言 (speak) with 隹, which supplies the sound; this shape is described for 誰, not 谁.

Open 谁 →

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

An early form of 知 showed 大 (adult), 口 (mouth), and 子 (child): an adult speaking to a child to pass on knowledge. The 子 part was dropped, and the 大 part changed shape.

Open 知 →
Appears in
Thinking & Cognition

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