之乎者也 zhī hū zhě yě

DEFINITIONS

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

CHARACTERS

之 zhī
HSK 4
marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
乎 hū
HSK 3
interrogative or exclamatory final particle
者 zhě
HSK 3
that which; he who; those who
也 yě
HSK 2
also; classical final particle of strong affirmation or identity