HSK 5 · Function Words

嗯 ǹg “uh-huh” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

Hear it in a sentence

What 嗯 means

  1. uh-huh
  2. yes (agreeing)
  3. OK, yeah
  4. interjection indicating approval, appreciation or agreement

How to say 嗯

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale嗯ǹg4th tone, falling

嗯 in a sentence

  1. “来杯茶吗？”“嗯，好的。”

    “Lái bēi chá ma?” “Ǹg, hǎo de.”

    “Would you like some tea?” “Yes, please.”

    Sentence #2487291 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 嗯，但是你必须等我。

    Ǹg, dànshì nǐ bìxū děng wǒ.

    OK, but you have to wait for me.

    Sentence #6451967 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 嗯，可以。

    Ǹg, kěyǐ.

    Mm, that’s fine.

    Sentence #10713529 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 嗯 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 嗯 (ǹg) with each of its parts in a different colour
嗯ǹg
  • 口mouth · kǒuMeaning part
  • 恩kindness · ēnSound part

口 hints at the meaning (mouth); 恩 (ēn) hints at the sound. Compare it with ǹg.

How to write 嗯

嗯 13 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

嗯 (ǹg) stroke order chart: each stroke of the character in the order you write it
Stroke order chart for 嗯 (ǹg). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 嗯

More words: Function Words & Grammar

吨dūn · tonne (loanword)顿dùn · measure word for meals朵duǒ · measure word for flowers and clouds多亏duōkuī · thanks to反而fǎn'ér · on the contrary反复fǎnfù · repeatedly反正fǎnzhèng · anyway仿佛fǎngfú · as if

FAQs

嗯 (ǹg) means “uh-huh” or “yes (agreeing)”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it ǹg: ǹg with a 4th tone. Play the example sentences on this page to hear it in use.
Yes. 嗯 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type ng with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 嗯 from the suggestions. Typing ng into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
嗯 is an HSK 5 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.