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耳闻 (ěr wén) — to hear about, to learn of through hearsay (formal/literary)

Definition

Literary 'to hear about / learn of through hearsay' — not from personal experience. Often paired with 目击 or 目睹 (see with one's own eyes), as in 耳闻不如目睹 (hearing is not as good as seeing).

verb
to hear aboutto learn of through hearsay (formal/literary)

Examples

  • 耳闻，。
    Wǒ ěr wén guò zhè jiàn shì, dàn bú tài qīng chǔ xì jié.
    I've heard about this matter, but I'm not too clear on the details.
  • 耳闻。
    Tā ěr wén le xǔ duō guān yú nà ge dì fāng de chuán shuō.
    He heard many legends about that place.
  • 耳闻，。
    ěr wén Bù rú yí jiàn, nǐ hái shì zì jǐ qù kàn kàn ba.
    Hearing about it is not as good as seeing it in person — you should go see for yourself.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

耳ěrear
闻wénhear

耳 is the organ that 闻, so the sense is to hear or learn by hearsay.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

耳 is drawn as a picture of an ear.

Open 耳 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 聞; 闻 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
耳耳ěrear
Sound part声符shēngfú
門
門mén聞wén
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 聞, 門 supplies the sound and 耳 is an ear; this explanation is about 聞, not the simplified 闻.

Open 闻 →
Appears in
Senses

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