嗯

ēn, èn, en
口 + 恩
HSK 2.0Level 5
HSK 3.0Level 4

Definitions

en (particle) mm; yes; okay (indicating agreement or acknowledgment)
èn (particle) huh?; what? (questioning sound)
ēn (particle) groan; grunt

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 恩 represents the sound.

Semantic: 口 Phonetic: 恩

About

嗯 is a phono-semantic compound, with the mouth radical 口 (kǒu) on the left indicating it represents a spoken utterance. The right side is the character 恩 (ēn), meaning grace or favor, which serves only as the phonetic component. As an interjection, it functions like a verbal nod, primarily expressing agreement or acknowledgment in casual speech. Its meaning shifts with intonation, allowing it to convey hesitation, a question, surprise, or simply mark an ongoing thought process, making it a versatile conversational filler.

Example Sentences Hide

嗯，我知道了。

En, wǒ zhīdào le.

Okay, I know now.

嗯，我觉得可以。

En, wǒ juédé kěyǐ.

Well, I think it's okay.

你明天来吗？嗯。

Nǐ míngtiān lái ma? En.

Are you coming tomorrow? Yeah.

嗯，这个问题有点难。

En, zhège wèntí yǒudiǎn nán.

Hmm, this question is a bit difficult.

他嗯了一声，表示同意。

Tā en le yī shēng, biǎoshì tóngyì.

He gave an "en" sound to show agreement.

我问他好不好，他只是嗯嗯啊啊的。

Wǒ wèn tā hǎo bu hǎo, tā zhǐshì en en ā ā de.

I asked him if he was okay, and he just responded with non-committal grunts.

她考虑了一下，嗯，好吧，就这么办。

Tā kǎolǜ le yīxià, en, hǎo ba, jiù zhème bàn.

She thought for a moment, "Well, alright, let's do it that way."

你想去旅行吗？嗯…让我想想。

Nǐ xiǎng qù lǚxíng ma? En… ràng wǒ xiǎngxiǎng.

Do you want to go traveling? Hmm... let me think about it.

Related Characters

Component: 口

中 和 可 后 如 同 只 知 高 问 向 或 加 合

Component: 恩

摁 蒽

Example Words

嗯哼