Classical grammar words in the Dao De Jing
乎 hū
In the Dao De Jing, 乎 (hū) is mostly a question particle at the end of a sentence (9 times), and once a suffix that makes a description vivid (1).
乎 is a particle. At the end of a sentence it turns a statement into a question, like a question mark spoken aloud; in a rhetorical question it invites the reader to agree. Chapter 10 asks six questions in a row with it, such as 能无为乎, “can you refrain from striving?”
Modern Chinese asks with 吗 or 呢 instead. 乎 survives inside words such as 几乎 “almost” and 在乎 “to care about”.
乎 as “question particle”
Pattern question + 乎？
A question particle at the end of a sentence. With 能 “can” it asks whether something is possible: 能婴儿乎 (chapter 10), “can that make you a newborn child?” With 其 or 而况 “how much more, how much less” it makes a rhetorical question whose answer is plain: 而况于人乎 (chapter 23), “how much less can people?”
9 times in 9 lines.
天地之间，其犹橐籥乎？
Space in the cosmos, is it just like bellows?
Chapter 5, line 3能无离乎？
can they avoid separation?
Chapter 10, line 2能婴儿乎？
can that make you a newborn child?
Chapter 10, line 4能无疵乎？
can it make you flawless?
Chapter 10, line 6能无知乎？
can you avoid over-manipulation?
Chapter 10, line 8能无雌乎？
can you be impassive?
Chapter 10, line 10
Show 3 more lines
能无为乎？
can you refrain from striving?
Chapter 10, line 12而况于人乎？
how much less can people?
Chapter 23, line 6此非以贱为本邪？非乎？
Is this not taking the humble as the root? Is it not?
Chapter 39, line 14
乎 as “-ly, so (descriptive)”
Pattern adjective + 乎
After an adjective, 乎 is a suffix that makes the description vivid, much like “-ly” or “so …!”: 淡乎其无味 (chapter 35), “it is bland and has no flavor.” The description 淡乎 “bland” comes first, then 其无味 “it has no flavor”. This is the only such 乎 in the book.
Once, in one line.
淡乎其无味。
it is bland and has no flavor.
Chapter 35, line 5
How to tell them apart
Look at where 乎 stands. At the very end of a sentence, after a verb phrase, it asks a question, and the line ends with a question mark: 能无为乎 (chapter 10). Right after a single descriptive word, with the sentence going on, it describes: 淡乎其无味 (chapter 35).