(ēn) - yes, mm-hmm (affirmative sound) in Mandarin
ēnTraditional: 恩
HSK 5
#810 of 5,000 Core 1000
Translation
yes, mm-hmm (affirmative sound)
Word origin
恩 is a phono-semantic compound: 心 (heart) is the meaning element and 因 (yīn) supplies the sound, giving the core meaning 'kindness, grace, favour'. The character is also borrowed colloquially to write the affirmative grunt 'mm-hmm'.
- Origin
- phono-semantic compound
- Root
- 心 (xīn, heart) + 因 (yīn, phonetic)
Stroke order
恩
Examples
，。
Mm-hmm, I understand.
，。
Yes, okay.
。
He just said yes.
，。
Mm, that's not a bad idea.
，。
Mm, I agree with your view.
恩 (ēn) means yes, mm-hmm (affirmative sound). It is used as an interjection in everyday Mandarin speech.
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Go to my review queueThis word is part of lesson 17.