何其【héqí】

何其 means "how (very)" in an exclamation. It goes before an adjective, usually a two-syllable one, and the sentence ends in ！. It belongs in writing, speeches and heightened talk – an essay looking back, a speaker who is moved.

The adjective takes no 很 or 非常, because 何其 already sets the degree.

• × 人生何其很短暂 → 人生何其短暂

Scorn

With an unflattering adjective, 何其 turns into criticism: "how foolish". Commentators and essayists use it to show contempt without swearing.

With a final 也

何其…也 is the classical shape, still exclamatory. It sounds deliberately old.

Not a question word

何 in other words asks a question: 如何 "how", 何时 "when". 何其 never asks; it only exclaims.

• × 这个问题何其解决？ → 这个问题如何解决？