How to say “smell” in Chinese
smell, sniff
“Smell” in Chinese is 闻, wén: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
闻 is read wén. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
A 门 “door” with an 耳 “ear” in it, like 问, where the door holds a 口 “mouth”.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “闻”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 闻. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 我每天在网上看新闻wǒměitiānzàiwǎngshangkànxīnwénI read the news online every day.
- 我闻到了烤肉的香味wǒwéndàolekǎoròudexiāngwèiI caught the aroma of grilled meat.
- 上网不光能看新闻，还能购物。shàngwǎngbùguāngnéngkànxīnwén,háinénggòuwùOnline you can not only read the news but also shop.
- 欢迎收看今天的新闻。huānyíngshōukànjīntiāndexīnwénWelcome to today's news.
- 我每天早上都浏览新闻wǒměitiānzǎoshangdōuliúlǎnxīnwénEvery morning I browse the news.
- 如今年轻人很少看报刊，主要通过新媒体了解新闻。rújīnniánqīngrénhěnshǎokànbàokān,zhǔyàotōngguòxīnméitǐliǎojiěxīnwénYoung people today rarely read newspapers and magazines — they mostly get their news from new media.
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “Raw and Cooked”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “smell” in Chinese?
“Smell” in Chinese is 闻, pinyin wén.
What does 闻 mean?
闻 (wén) means “smell, sniff”.
How do you write 闻?
闻 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 闻?
闻 is read wén. Tones: wén — second tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“smell” in the lesson “Raw and Cooked”
This word is from the topic “Food and Cooking” of HSK 4. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
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