HSK 2 · Common Verbs

问 wèn “to ask” in Chinese

Traditional 問

What 问 means

  1. to ask
  2. to inquire

How to say 问

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale问wèn4th tone, falling

问 in a sentence

  1. 我可以问你个问题吗？

    Wǒ kěyǐ wèn nǐ ge wèntí ma?

    Can I ask you a question?

    Sentence #480595 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我忘记问他了。

    Wǒ wàngjì wèn tā le.

    I forgot to ask him.

    Sentence #7771856 from Tatoeba

  3. 有不懂的东西就去问吧。

    Yǒu bù dǒng de dōngxi jiù qù wèn ba.

    If there’s anything you don’t understand, just go and ask.

    Sentence #8709515 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 问 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 问 (wèn) with each of its parts in a different colour
问wènto ask; to inquire
  • 门gate · ménSound part
  • 口mouth · kǒuMeaning part

口 hints at the meaning (mouth); 门 (mén) hints at the sound. Compare it with wèn.

Memory aidA mouth 口 at the gate 门, with 门 (mén) giving the sound: to ask.

How to write 问

问 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 问

Words with 问

请问qǐngwèn · Excuse me问题wèntí · question提问tíwèn · to question问候wènhòu · to give one’s respects询问xúnwèn · to inquire疑问yíwèn · question学问xuéwèn · learning反问fǎnwèn · to ask a rhetorical question过问guòwèn · to concern oneself with慰问wèiwèn · to express sympathy

More words: Common Verbs

知道zhīdao · to know (a fact)觉得juéde · to feel希望xīwàng · to hope告诉gàosu · to tell开始kāishǐ · to begin运动yùndòng · to exercise洗xǐ · to wash穿chuān · to wear

FAQs

问 (wèn) means “to ask” or “to inquire”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it wèn: wèn with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 问 is written 問. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type wen with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 问 from the suggestions. Typing wen into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
问 is an HSK 2 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.