Meaning of 怎么办
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- what's to be done
How to use 怎么办
怎么办 is used when you face a problem and do not know what to do. It can stand alone as a full question or come after a description of the problem. Example: 我的手机丢了，怎么办？(Wǒ de shǒujī diū le, zěnme bàn?) I lost my phone, what should I do?
Break it into 怎么 (zěnme) "how" plus 办 (bàn) "to handle, to do." Put together, 怎么办 literally asks "how to handle it," which is the question you ask when you are stuck.
Common mistake: Learners often say 怎么做 (zěnme zuò) when they mean 怎么办. 怎么做 asks for the method of doing a task, like cooking a dish, while 怎么办 asks what to do about a problem. Also keep the tone on 办 as fourth tone (bàn), not third.
怎么办 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
怎 zěn · what? why? how? · 9 strokes
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- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
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- 9
么 me · interrogative particle · 3 strokes
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- 3
办 bàn · to take care of · 4 strokes
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- 4
Related words
Words that share a character with 怎么办.
| 什么 | shénme | what?; something; anything |
| 怎么 | zěnme | how?; what? |
| 干什么 | gàn shénme | what are you doing?; what's he up to? |
| 没什么 | méi shénme | it doesn't matter; it's nothing; never mind; think nothing of it; it's my pleasure; you're |
| 为什么 | wèi shénme | why?; for what reason? |
| 这么 | zhème | so much; this much |
| 那么 | nàme | like that; in that way; to that extent; (before a number) ... or so; about ... |
| 怎么样 | zěnmeyàng | how?; how about? |
| 怎样 | zěnyàng | how; what kind |
| 办法 | bànfǎ | way of handling sth; means; measure; (practical) solution to a problem |
| 办公室 | bàngōngshì | office; business premises |
| 多么 | duōme | how (wonderful etc); what (a great idea etc) |
Questions about 怎么办
What does 怎么办 mean?
怎么办 (zěnme bàn) means "what's to be done".
How do you write 怎么办?
怎么办 is made of 3 characters: 怎 (9 strokes), 么 (3 strokes), 办 (4 strokes). That is 16 strokes in total.
Is 怎么办 an HSK word?
Yes. 怎么办 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 怎么办 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 怎么办 is written 怎麼辦.
Can 怎么办 be used to ask someone for advice?
Yes. You can say 你说怎么办？(Nǐ shuō zěnme bàn?) "What do you think we should do?" It invites the other person to suggest a solution.
Is 怎么办 a question, or can it be used in a statement?
It also works inside a statement. For example, 我不知道怎么办 (Wǒ bù zhīdào zěnme bàn) means "I don't know what to do." In that case you end the sentence with a period, not a question mark.