ăn thua

adjectiveverb

Hanoi [ʔan˧˧ tʰuə˧˧]Huế [ʔaŋ˧˧ tʰuə˧˧]Saigon [ʔaŋ˧˧ tʰuə˧˧] browser voice

Syllables · tones

ănlevelngang thualevelngang

Each syllable carries one of six tones; the mark on the vowel tells you which. How the six tones sound →

ăn thua means effective.

Meanings of ăn thua in English

Adjective

colloquial, in the negative effective ≈ xi-nhê

Verb

to directly confront; to face against

Example sentences with ăn thua

Tôi đã thử đi thử lại rồi nhưng vẫn không ăn thua. I tried and tried, but nothing worked.
Cà phê không ăn thua. Tôi vẫn thấy mệt mỏi sau khi uống. Coffee doesn't work on me. I still feel tired after drinking it.

Bilingual example sentences from Tatoeba (tatoeba.org, CC BY 2.0 FR).

Etymology

ăn (“to eat; to win”) + thua (“to lose”).

Frequently asked questions

What does ăn thua mean in English?

ăn thua (adjective) means "effective".

How do you pronounce ăn thua?

IPA: Hanoi [ʔan˧˧ tʰuə˧˧]; Saigon [ʔaŋ˧˧ tʰuə˧˧]. Tones: ăn — level tone (ngang), thua — level tone (ngang).

Meanings, pronunciation and etymology from English Wiktionary (wiktionary.org, via kaikki.org; CC BY-SA 4.0), reviewed and edited; example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). IPA shown for three accents: Hanoi (Northern), Huế (Central) and Saigon (Southern). The Listen button uses your browser's Vietnamese voice, for reference only. Spotted a mistake? Let NgonNgu know.