怎么 (zěnme): How? in Chinese

怎么？

zěnme?

How?

Character breakdown

怎

how

zěn

么

question particle

Grammar and structure

怎么 (zěnme) is a question word meaning 'how'. It's often placed before a verb to ask 'how to do something', but can also stand alone as a short question meaning 'How?' or 'What?'

Variations and politeness

怎么样？

zěnme yàng?

How is it? — More colloquial, used to ask about someone's condition or opinion.

怎么回事？

zěnme huí shì?

What's going on? — Used to ask about a situation or event.

Mini dialogue

你怎么去学校？

Nǐ zěnme qù xuéxiào?

How do you get to school?

我坐公交。你呢？

Wǒ zuò gōngjiāo. Nǐ ne?

I take the bus. And you?

When to use it

Appropriate

When you want a quick, informal 'How?' or 'What?' in response to something surprising or unclear.
When you're with friends or in casual conversation and want to keep it short.

Avoid when

In formal situations or with superiors, where a fuller sentence like 怎么了吗? (What's wrong?) is more polite.
When you need to ask 'how to do something' – you must add a verb, e.g. 怎么去? (How to go?).