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闻wénto smell

HSK 4word

By Chinese Copilot · Last updated

闻 (wén) means "to smell" or "to sniff at." In everyday speech it is the verb for noticing a smell with your nose, as in 闻一闻 (take a sniff) and 闻到 (catch a smell). It can also mean "to hear" or "news" in fixed words, but the smell sense fits daily use.

What does 闻 mean?

  1. 1.

    to smellverb

  2. 2.

    to sniff atverb

What does the character 闻 mean?

  • 闻to smell

How do you use 闻?

闻 often takes 到 after it to show that a smell is noticed, as in 闻到了.

Patterns

  • 闻 + 到

    我闻到了咖啡的味道。

    Wǒ wéndào le kāfēi de wèidào.

    I smelled coffee.

What are some examples of 闻 in a sentence?

  1. HSK 1

    你闻闻这个苹果。

    Nǐ wénwen zhège píngguǒ.

    Smell this apple.

  2. HSK 4

    我闻到了米饭的味道。

    Wǒ wéndào le mǐfàn de wèidào.

    I smelled the rice.

  3. HSK 5

    这朵花很香，你来闻一下。

    Zhè duǒ huā hěn xiāng, nǐ lái wén yíxià.

    This flower smells nice; come take a sniff.

How is 闻 used in a conversation?

  1. Speaker A:

    妈妈在做什么菜？

    Māma zài zuò shénme cài?

    What dish is Mom making?

  2. Speaker B:

    她在做鱼，你闻到了吗？

    Tā zài zuò yú, nǐ wéndào le ma?

    She's making fish. Did you smell it?

  3. Speaker A:

    闻到了，真香。

    Wéndào le, zhēn xiāng.

    Yes, I smelled it. It smells really good.

  4. Speaker B:

    饭马上就好，你去洗手吧。

    Fàn mǎshàng jiù hǎo, nǐ qù xǐ shǒu ba.

    The food is almost ready; go wash your hands.

What should you learn next?

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English glosses on this page are adapted from CC-CEDICT, published by MDBG (snapshot 2026-10-23), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Glosses were edited for learners.