若 ruò if
if; supposing; assuming; to seem; like
How it came to be
象形 · Pictogram
A drawing of the thing it means.
The oracle bone form is a person combing their hair with both hands; a mouth was added below later.
How it is used
- A literary word doing two jobs: "if": 倘若 (tǎngruò) / 若是 (ruòshì) if, 若干 (ruògān) a certain number; and "like/as": 若无其事 (ruòwúqíshì) as if nothing happened, 若隐若现 (ruòyǐn-ruòxiàn) faintly visible.
- More formal than spoken 如果 (rúguǒ) "if" and 好像 (hǎoxiàng) "seem"; you meet 若 in writing and set phrases like 旁若无人 (pángruò-wúrén) as if no one else were around.