Dictionary › 嗯

嗯

ēn

Old HSK 6 HSK 3.0 character level 4 Character

嗯 (ēn) means "(a groaning sound)". It is an HSK 3.0 level 4 word, and was HSK 6 in the old six-level list.

What 嗯 means

1. (a groaning sound)

Other readings

嗯 is 多音字 — it is read more than one way, and the reading changes the meaning.

• èn(nonverbal grunt as interjection); OK, yeah; what?
• eninterjection indicating approval, appreciation or agreement

Example sentences

• 嗯？
  Hm?
• 嗯哪。
  Yep.
• 嗯..
  Hmm.
• 嗯 。
  Yeah.
• 嗯，可以。
  That does it.
• 嗯，仅此而已。
  ēn, jǐncǐ'éryǐ.
  Yea, that's all it is.

Words starting with 嗯

• 嗯哼en hēnguh-huh

Characters built on 恩

These share the phonetic component 恩 (ēn), which is why their readings rhyme. Learning them as a family is far cheaper than learning them one at a time.

• 摁ènto press (with one's finger or hand)
• 蒽ēnanthracene

Characters that look like 嗯

Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.

• 嗡wēng(onomatopoeia) buzz; hum; drone
• 喽lóu(bound form) subordinates in a gang of bandits
• 嘤yīngcalling of birds
• 嗬hē(interjection expressing surprise) oh!; wow!
• 嘧mì(phonetic) as in pyrimidine
• 嘌piào(literary) fast; speedy; used in 嘌呤

Sounds the same

Read ēn, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 恩favor; grace; kindness; (colloquial) used like 嗯
• 蒽anthracene

Where 嗯 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of HSK 6 Vocabulary · ēn–ná (HSK 6), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 6 word, with the rest of its level.
• How characters are built from components.
• How to learn Chinese characters.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read ēn correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.