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借問

简借问 · 繁借問

Mandarin · pinyin jiè wèn

(honorific) May I ask?

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Characters in this entry

借: jiè · borrow; lend; make pretext of
問: wèn · ask (about), inquire after
问: wèn · ask about, inquire after

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–4 · jie4 wen4

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

借問 · find source passages ↗ · 借问 · find source passages ↗

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

verb

(honorific, polite) to ask; may I ask ...?

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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