ăn

Verb

1. to eat
   • ăn thịtto eat meat; to be carnivorous
   • ăn bánhto eat cakes
   • ăn uống đầy bụngto eat and drink one's fill
2. figurative to consume
   • Xe này ăn tốn xăng.This car guzzles gas.
   • Lò này ăn nhiều than.This oven consumes a lot of coal.
   • Giấy ăn mực.The paper ate the ink. (The pen ran out of ink.)
3. to capture (a piece in board games such as chess, xiangqi, etc.)
4. to be equivalent to, to be worth (a quantity denominated in a smaller unit)
   • Một cân ta ăn 600 gam.One traditional cân is equivalent to 600 grams.
   • Hôm nay một đô la Mỹ ăn mười ba nghìn đồng Việt Nam.Today, one U.S. dollar is worth 13,000 Vietnamese dong.
5. to dine; to feast, to attend a feast, to celebrate, to commemorate
   • Có người mời ăn.Someone has invited you (us, them) to come over for a meal.
   • ăn tếtto feast for the new year; to celebrate the new year
   • ăn giỗto celebrate a death anniversary
6. to eat with (a utensil)
   • Người Châu Âu không quen ăn đũa.Europeans are unaccustomed to eating with chopsticks.
7. to smoke (tobacco); to chew (tobacco, paan)
   • Ông cụ ăn thuốc bà cụ ăn trầu.The old man smoked while his wife chewed paan.
8. to pick up (a passenger, cargo)
   • Ô-tô ăn khách.The car picked up a passenger.
   • Tàu ăn hàng.Cargo was loaded onto the ship.
9. to endure (a punishment)
   • ăn đònto be spanked
   • ăn đạnto be shot at
10. to enjoy, to benefit from, to earn, to win (money, a salary, roses, a prize)
    • ăn thừa tựto accept an inheritance
    • ăn lươngto earn a salary
    • ăn hoa hồngto enjoy roses
11. to empty into (a body of water)
    • Sông ăn ra biển.The river empties into the sea.
12. to be subordinated to; to belong to (an administrative area)
    • Ruộng này ăn về xã tôi.These woods lie within my commune.
13. to have an effect, to work
    • Phanh này không ăn.The brakes don't work.
14. rare synonym of uống (“to drink”) ≈ uống
    • ăn/uống sữato drink milk
    • ăn sinh tốto drink a smoothie