为 何 wèi hé why 何 以 hé yǐ (literary) why / how 怎 的 zěn de what for / why / how 怎 生 zěn shēng how / why 何 hé what / how / why / which / carry 曷 hé why / how / when / what / where 何 为 hé wèi (old) why 所 以 suǒ yǐ therefore / as a result / so / the reason why 为 什 么 wèi shén me why? / for what reason? 倒 是 dào shi contrary to what one might expect / actually / contrariwise / why don't you 之 所 以 zhī suǒ yǐ (after a noun N and before a predicate P) the reason why N P / Example: 我之所以討厭他|我之所以讨厌他[wo3 zhi1suo3yi3 tao3yan4 ta1] "the reason why I dislike him (is ...)" 何 必 hé bì there is no need / why should 干 嘛 gàn má what are you doing? / whatever for? / why on earth? 何 不 hé bù why not? / why not do (sth)? 怪 不 得 guài bu de no wonder! / so that's why! 何 苦 hé kǔ why bother? / is it worth the trouble? 缘 何 yuán hé why? / for what reason? 所 以 然 suǒ yǐ rán the reason why 何 须 hé xū there is no need / why should 奚 xī (literary) what? / where? / why? 盍 hé why not 割 鸡 焉 用 牛 刀 gē jī yān yòng niú dāo lit. why use a pole-ax to slaughter a chicken? (idiom) / fig. to waste effort on a trifling matter / also written 殺雞焉用牛刀|杀鸡焉用牛刀[sha1 ji1 yan1 yong4 niu2 dao1] 哪 门 子 nǎ mén zi (coll.) (emphasizing a rhetorical question) what / what kind / why on earth 干 麽 gàn má why on earth / whatever for 怎 么 说 呢 zěn me shuō ne Why is that? / How come? 何 苦 呢 hé kǔ ne why bother? / is it worth the trouble? 故 云 gù yún that's why it is called... 為 什 麼 wèi shén me variant of 為甚麼|为什么, why? / for what reason? 凭 什 么 píng shén me (spoken) why? / for which reason? 何 出 此 言 hé chū cǐ yán where do these words stem from? / why do you (he, etc) say such a thing? 知 其 然 而 不 知 其 所 以 然 zhī qí rán ér bù zhī qí suǒ yǐ rán (idiom) to know that it is so but not why it is so 为 毛 wèi máo (Internet slang) why?