đầu gối

Level ≈B1 (approx.) noun Top 3,000 most common

Hanoi [ʔɗəw˨˩ ɣoj˧˦]Huế [ʔɗəw˦˩ ɣoj˨˩˦]Saigon [ʔɗəw˨˩ ɣoj˦˥] browser voice

Syllables · tones

đầufallinghuyền gốirisingsắc

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

đầu gối means knee.

Meanings of đầu gối in English

Noun

knee (joint in the middle of the leg and area around it) ≈ gối

Example sentences with đầu gối

Đầu gối của tôi bị đau. My knee aches.
Tôi đã băng bó đầu gối bị đau của mình. I put bandages on my hurt knee.
Tom đã bị thương ở đầu gối khi nó té xuống. Tom hurt his knee when he fell down.
Khi bạn trượt ván, lực sẽ đè mạnh lên đầu gối của bạn. When you skateboard, it puts quite a strain on your knees.

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

Etymology

đầu (“head”) + gối (“knee”), perhaps to avoid ambiguity with the other gối (“pillow”), but also probably to refer specifically to the "head" of the knee, the kneecap (compare English olecranon (literally “head of the elbow”)). Sino-Vietnamese đầu largely displaced native trốc, as in trốc gối.

Frequently asked questions

What does đầu gối mean in English?

đầu gối (noun) means "knee".

How do you pronounce đầu gối?

IPA: Hanoi [ʔɗəw˨˩ ɣoj˧˦]; Saigon [ʔɗəw˨˩ ɣoj˦˥]. Tones: đầu — falling tone (huyền), gối — rising tone (sắc).

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. Levels are approximate, estimated from word frequency. Spotted a mistake? Let NgonNgu know.