An interjection (感叹词) is a word or expression that occurs as an utterance on its own and expresses a spontaneous feeling or reaction. It expresses feelings and emotions but does not name them. It is usually placed at the beginning of a sentence.
The interjection 嗯 is the most popular interjection for chatting with the Chinese.
It has three meanings with different pronunciations:
1) expresses agreement.
Pronounced as ǹ or ǹg. It can be translated as “okay”, “yes”, “got it”, ”yup”.
Examples
嗯，知道了
Okay, got it
ǹg, zhīdào le
嗯，就这么做吧
Yup, let’s do it
ǹg, jiù zhème zuò ba
嗯嗯，我也这样觉得
Yes, I think so too
ǹ ǹ, wǒ yě zhèyàng juéde
2) expresses question or confusion.
Pronounced as ń or ńg. It can be translated as “huh?”, “well?”.
Examples
嗯？他说什么？
Huh? What did he say?
ń? tā shuō shénme
嗯？你在做什么呢？
Huh? What are you doing right now?
ń? nǐ zài zuò shénme ne
嗯？你怎么不说话了？
Well? Why aren't you saying anything?
ń? nǐ zěnme bù shuōhuà le
3) expresses surprise
Pronounced as ň or ňg. It can be translated as “hmm!”, “strange!”.
Examples
嗯？难道你没遇到他？
What? Didn’t you meet him?
ň? nándào nǐ méi yùdào tā
嗯！没想到他会这样！
Hmm, I didn't expect him to do that!
ňg! méi xiǎngdào tā huì zhèyàng
Pay attention
To type this character on the keyboard, you have to enter the letters “en”.