Henry

Chinese Mandarin :Chinese Mandarin Level
Registered on : 2008-03-04
Language : None
Posts : 62
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From :   Henry

Date : 2010-01-14 / 10:37PM

nǐ hǎo Benny,

May I know what are the differences between all these words? they seem to have similar meaning:-

臭 xiù, 嗅 xiù, 吸 xī, 闻 wén

Sometimes I heard ppl used xiù for the meaning “smell” but xī and wén can also be used in the “smell/breathe in” context ya? Would truly appreciate if u can give some example sentences to differentiate them.

Many thanks in advance

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benny

Chinese Mandarin :Chinese Mandarin Level
Registered on : 2007-01-01
Language : English, Mandarin Chinese
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 Benny the Mandarin Teacher askbenny.net 
2010-01-15 / 09:38AM

Hi Henry,

The word “臭 chòu” is an adjective which means “smelly or stink”. For example:

1. zhè li hěn chòu = It’s smelly here.

2. 嗅 xiù = sniff. You can say “嗅觉xiù jué = olfaction; (esp. in dogs) scent”.
gǒu de xiù jué hěn líng mǐn = Dog has very sharp smell

3. 吸 xī = to inhale, to draw in; to suck
呼吸 hū xī = breath
吸烟 xī yān = smoking

4. 闻 wén = to smell
难闻 nán wén = bad smell
闻起来 wén qǐ lái = it smells + adjetive

For example: zhè ge cài wén qǐ lái hěn xiāng = This food smells good.

For the word “to smell”, we normally use “闻”, “嗅” is used for animals.

Benny



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