Chinese word

听说

Pronunciation

Pinyintīng shuō

Meaning

  • verbhear that

Example

听说她已经走了。tīng shuō tā yǐ jīng zǒu le

It is said that she has already left.

Illustration for 听说 (hear that)

More examples

我听说这家店的菜很好。wǒ tīng shuō zhè jiā diàn de cài hěn hǎo

I hear that the food at this restaurant is very good.

Core concept

News traveling from an earlier speaker to a new listener.

Common phrases

  • 我听说wǒ tīng shuō

    I hear that

  • 听说过tīng shuō guò

    have heard

Similar words

听到tīng dào: Hear a sound or spoken message and understand what is heard.
知道zhī dào: Have knowledge or information about a fact, person, or matter.

Definition in Chinese

口语中用来引出别人告诉自己的消息或流言，强调信息来源于听闻而非亲眼或亲身验证。kóu yǔ zhōng yòng lái yǐn chū bié rén gào sù zì jǐ de xiāo xī huò liú yán qiáng diào xìn xī lái yuán yú tīng wén ér fēi qīn yǎn huò qīn shēn yàn zhèng

Word origin

听 (tīng, "listen") + 说 (shuō, "speak") presents information as something first heard and then reported, rather than personally checked.

Usage tips

  • 听说 (tīngshuō, "hear that") can introduce news that turns out to be true, so the word does not by itself mean that the news is false.

Other meanings

  • hearsaynoun

Word lists with this word