HSK 3.0 Level 3 · Speaking

怎么办 zěnmebàn “what should I do?” in Chinese

Traditional 怎麼辦

What 怎么办 means

  1. what should I do?
  2. what can be done?
  3. what’s to be done

How to say 怎么办

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale怎zěn3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own么meneutral tone, light and short
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale办bàn4th tone, falling

Grey pinyin is a neutral tone: say it short and light. More on the neutral tone

怎么办 in a sentence

  1. 我的手机不见了，怎么办？

    Wǒ de shǒujī bújiàn le, zěnmebàn?

    My phone’s gone missing. What should I do?

    Sentence #420878 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我们现在怎么办？

    Wǒmen xiànzài zěnmebàn?

    What do we do now?

    Sentence #10260729 from Tatoeba

  3. 这件行李怎么办？

    Zhè jiàn xíngli zěnmebàn?

    What should I do with this luggage?

    Sentence #2032201 from Tatoeba

How 怎么办 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 怎 (zěn) with each of its parts in a different colour
怎zěnhow
  • 乍first time · zhàSound part
  • 心heart · xīnMeaning part

心 hints at the meaning (heart); 乍 (zhà) hints at the sound. Compare it with zěn.

The character 么 (me) with each of its parts in a different colour
么mesuffix, used to form interrogative 什么
  • 丿slash · piě
  • 厶private · sī
The character 办 (bàn) with each of its parts in a different colour
办bànto take care of; to deal with
  • 力strength · lìMeaning part
  • 八eight · bāSound part

力 hints at the meaning (strength); 八 (bā) hints at the sound. Compare it with bàn.

Memory aidSimplified from 辦: strength 力 with work on both sides: to handle, to get done.

How to write 怎么办

怎 9 strokes · 么 3 strokes · 办 4 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

怎么办 (zěnmebàn) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 怎么办 (zěnmebàn). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 怎么办

Words with 怎

怎么zěnme · how怎么样zěnmeyàng · how is it怎样zěnyàng · how

Words with 么

什么shénme · what怎么zěnme · how怎么样zěnmeyàng · how is it那么nàme · like that这么zhème · so much为什么wèishénme · why多么duōme · how

Words with 办

办bàn · to handle办法bànfǎ · method办公室bàngōngshì · office举办jǔbàn · to conduct办理bànlǐ · to handle承办chéngbàn · to undertake主办zhǔbàn · to host

More words: Speaking & Communication

听说tīngshuō · to hear (it said that)聊liáo · to chat邮件yóujiàn · mail邮箱yóuxiāng · email inbox外语wàiyǔ · foreign language提出tíchū · to put forward晚安wǎn'ān · good night祝zhù · to wish (someone well)

FAQs

怎么办 (zěnmebàn) means “what should I do?” or “what can be done?”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word.
Say it zěnmebàn: zěn with a 3rd tone, then me with a neutral tone, then bàn with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 怎么办 is written 怎麼辦. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zenmeban with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 怎么办 from the suggestions. Typing zenmeban into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
怎么办 is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 4 word list. It is not on the older HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.