闻

聞

wén

verb HSK 2 #1,234

Meanings

Contains 门 (door) + 耳 (ear) — an ear at the door, listening.

Nǐ wéndào le ma? Hǎo xiāng!

Can you smell that? It smells great!

Wǒ wéndào yī gǔ yānwèi.

I smell cigarette smoke.

Wén yī wén zhè duǒ huā.

Take a sniff of this flower.

history

In classical Chinese, 闻 meant 'to hear' (still seen in 新闻 = news, literally 'new things heard'). In modern Chinese, 闻 primarily means 'to smell'.

usage

闻到 = to smell (successfully detect a scent). 闻一闻 / 闻闻 = to give something a sniff.

闻 wén