We fabricated the field effect transistor using single crystalline ZnO nanowires synthesized by a conventional thermal evaporation method and investigated their basic properties under the various conditions such as ultraviolet irradiation, reducing gas and electrolyte. The typical carrier concentration and mobility of the single crystalline ZnO nanowire with a diameter of 100 nm and length of 5 um were $1.30{ imes}10^{18}cm^{-3}$ and $15.6cm^2V^{-1}s^{-1}$, respectively. The current of ZnO nanowire under ultraviolet irradiation significantly increased about 400 times higher as compared to in the darkness. In addition, the ZnO nanowire showed typical sensing characteristics for $H_2$ and CO due to well-known surface reactions and typical current-voltage characteristics under the 0.1 M NaCl electrolyte.