闻

• 拼音: wén
• 汉字拆解: 闻 = 门 (door/gate) + 耳 (ear) — originally to hear through a door; modern meaning shifted to smell

含义

To smell; to sniff. The act of perceiving odour through the nose.

The primary modern meaning is to detect scent with the nose. Historically, 闻 also meant 'to hear' (as in 新闻, news — literally 'new things heard'), but in modern Chinese the 'smell' meaning dominates in everyday usage. Used with adjectives describing various scents.

例句

1. 你闻闻这朵花，很香。
2. 我闻到了饭菜的香味。
3. 这个东西闻起来不太好。

用法指南

语境: senses, food, everyday

语气: neutral

正确说法

• 你闻闻，这是什么味道？(Smell this, what is it?)
• 好香啊，我闻到了。(Smells great, I can smell it.)

错误说法

• 我闻到了他的声音 (Don't use 闻 for hearing in modern Chinese — use 听到 for sounds; 闻 now means to smell, not to hear)

起源与历史

门 (door/gate) + 耳 (ear). Originally meant to hear sound through a door. The meaning later shifted to smelling, while the 'hear' sense is preserved in compounds like 新闻.

文化背景

世代: All ages

社会背景: Universal