Level 5 · Advanced
On the strength of: 凭
凭 + Basis，+ Result / 凭什么…？ · Traditional: 憑 + Basis，+ Result / 憑什麼…？
凭 (píng) marks what something rests on: 他凭自己的努力买了房子 "he bought a house on the strength of his own hard work." The basis can be effort, experience, or a physical pass — 凭这张票可以换一杯饮料 "this ticket gets you a free drink."
Then there's 凭什么 — "by what right?!" — pure indignation: 你凭什么这么说我？ "who are you to say that about me?" Handle with care; it's confrontational by design.
Examples
他凭自己的努力买了房子。
他憑自己的努力買了房子。
tā píng zì jǐ de nǔ lì mǎi le fáng zi
He bought a house through his own hard work.
凭这张票可以免费换一杯饮料。
憑這張票可以免費換一杯飲料。
píng zhè zhāng piào kě yǐ miǎn fèi huàn yī bēi yǐn liào
This ticket can be exchanged for a free drink.
她凭经验就知道哪里出了问题。
她憑經驗就知道哪裏出了問題。
tā píng jīng yàn jiù zhī dào nǎ lǐ chū le wèn tí
With her experience, she could tell right away what had gone wrong.
你凭什么这么说我？
你憑什麼這麼說我？
nǐ píng shén me zhè me shuō wǒ
What gives you the right to say that about me?
Common mistakes
✗ 请问，你凭什么知道我的名字？
✓ 请问，你是怎么知道我的名字的？
凭什么 is an accusation, not a neutral "how" — for polite questions use 怎么.
Related grammar points
See it in a story
Read this pattern in context: Blind Men Touching the Elephant · The Sermon on the Mount - Part 3 (Matthew 7) — free graded stories with tap-to-reveal pinyin and translations.
