How to Write 嗯 (ńg/ǹg) — Meaning “Um, okay, or yes.”

Imagine someone says “嗯” while nodding, like saying “um-hmm” in English. The left side 口 is a mouth, and the right side 恩 sounds like “en,” so picture a person saying “en” with their mouth to agree.

Pay attention to the right part 恩: it has 10 strokes and includes the component 因 (yīn) with a box and 心 (xīn). A common mistake is to forget the dot inside the box of 因 or to make the bottom 心 too wide. Keep the left 口 small and centered.

㕡 and 唪 are extremely rare. 㕡 (huò) is an obscure character meaning a kind of gourd, and 唪 (běng) is an old word for laughing or an onomatopoeia. In contrast, 嗯 is a common everyday interjection for showing agreement or hesitation in modern Chinese.

嗯 is used in casual conversation as a filler or to show you are listening, similar to “um” or “uh-huh” in English. The tone can change meaning: ńg (rising tone) often means a questioning “hmm?” while ǹg (falling tone) means a confirmatory “yes” or “okay.” It is very common in texting and spoken dialogue.

Common words containing 嗯 include: 嗯 (ńg) — Um, okay, or yes..