之 乎 者 也

zhī hū zhě yědictionary entry

(lit.) 之[zhī], 乎[hū], 者[zhě] and 也[yě] (four grammatical particles of Classical Chinese) (idiom) / (fig.) archaic expressions

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-f01eef66b0d48536. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

之乎者也 之乎者也 [zhi1 hu1 zhe3 ye3] /(lit.) 之[zhi1], 乎[hu1], 者[zhe3] and 也[ye3] (four grammatical particles of Classical Chinese) (idiom)/(fig.) archaic expressions/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

之
zhī
(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de]) / him / her / it
乎
hū
(classical particle similar to 於|于[yú]) in / at / from / because / than / (classical final particle similar to 嗎|吗[ma], 吧[ba], 呢[ne], expressing question, doubt or astonishment)
者
zhě
(after a verb or adjective) one who (is) ... / (after a noun) person involved in ... / -er / -ist / (used after a number or 後|后[hòu] or 前[qián] to refer to sth mentioned previously) / (used after a term, to mark a pause before defining the term) / (old) (used at the end of a command) / (old) this
也
yě
also / too / as well / (not ...) either / (used after a verbal or nominal expression X to indicate that X is an extreme or unexpected case) even (X) / (literary) particle having functions similar to 啊[a]
Yě
surname Ye

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.