Meaning
listen; hear; obey; let; allow
Chinese: 用耳朵接收声音，也表示听从。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “ting” becomes a different word in each tone. 听 is the 1st tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 听到tīng dàoto hear
- 听见tīng jiànto hear
- 好听hǎo tīngpleasant to hear
- 听写tīng xiě(of a pupil) to write down (in a dictation exercise); dictation; (music) to transcribe by ear
- 听说tīng shuōto hear (sth said); one hears (that); hearsay; listening and speaking
Example Sentence
我喜欢一边走路一边听音乐。Wǒ xǐ huan yì biān zǒu lù yì biān tīng yīn yuè.I like to listen to music while walking.
我WǒI喜欢xǐ huanto like一边yì biānone side走路zǒu lùto walk一边yì biānone side听tīngto listen to音乐yīn yuèmusic。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
Simplified from 聽. The simplified form pairs 口 (mouth) with 斤 (jīn, sound); the traditional 聽 clearly shows an ear (耳). It means ‘to listen / hear’.
A way to remember it
The traditional 聽 has an ear (耳); the simplified 听 uses 口 + 斤 — to listen.
Easy to confuse with
- 斤‘Axe / catty’: the right-hand sound part of 听, on its own.