什 (shén) is a Chinese character meaning “used only in 什么 (shénme), "what"”. It is written from 亻 (person (the form 人 takes on the left)) and 十 (ten), side by side, and takes 4 strokes.
Build the character for “what (in 什么)”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
亻 + 十
Left–right structure
Structure from: modern-glyph decomposition (IDS ⿰亻十; 笔画数 2+2=4 与 hanzi-writer-data 一致)
Memory aid
A person (亻) holding up ten fingers (十) and asking: what is it? Both parts really are in this character.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
4 strokes
In real words
- 什么shén mewhat什 = shén
Go deeper
All readings
what (only in 什么)
used only in 什么 (shénme), "what"
只用于「什么」，表示疑问。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 什么shén mewhat什 = shén
Rare readings, not taught: shí
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 什 mean?
什 (shén) means used only in 什么 (shénme), "what".
How do you pronounce 什?
It is pronounced shén.
What parts is 什 made of?
亻 (person (the form 人 takes on the left)) and 十 (ten), side by side. The recorded source is: modern-glyph decomposition (IDS ⿰亻十; 笔画数 2+2=4 与 hanzi-writer-data 一致). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 什 have?
4. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 什?
人. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 什?
Common ones are 什么. The reading of 什 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.