TuDien.NgonNguViet.comVietnamese ⇄ English dictionary

ai

Level ≈A1 (approx.) pronounnoun Top 1,000 most common
Hanoi [ʔaːj˧˧]Huế [ʔaːj˧˧]Saigon [ʔaːj˧˧] browser voice
Syllables · tones

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

ai means who; anyone.

Meanings of ai in English

Pronoun

  1. who
    • Ai hỏi?Who asked?
    • Ai (mà) biết.Who knows? / How should I know?
  2. whoever, anyone
    • Ai cũng được.Anyone is fine.
  3. one, a person
  4. rhetorical nobody
  5. someone, someone else

Noun

  1. synonym of trí tuệ nhân tạo (“artificial intelligence”); AI ≈ trí tuệ nhân tạo

Words with ai

Example sentences with ai

  • Mày nghĩ cô ấy ở với ai? Who do you think she lives with?
  • Bạn nghĩ cô ấy ở với ai? Who do you think she lives with?
  • Bạn nghĩ bà ấy ở với ai? Who do you think she lives with?
  • Cái xe đạp này là của ai? Whose is this bicycle?
  • Tụi bây nghĩ nó ở với ai? Who do you think she lives with?
  • Ai đã ăn hết phô mai thế? Who ate all the cheese?
  • Chờ tí, có ai đang gõ cửa. Hold on, someone is knocking at my door.
  • Bạn có thấy ai ở đó không? Did you see anybody there?

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

Historical script (chữ Nôm / Hán)

Before the Latin alphabet (chữ Quốc ngữ) became standard, ai could be written as 埃. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *ʔeː (“who”). Cognate with Tho [Cuối Chăm] ʔeː¹.

Frequently asked questions

What does ai mean in English?

ai (pronoun) means "who; anyone".

How do you pronounce ai?

IPA: Hanoi [ʔaːj˧˧]; Saigon [ʔaːj˧˧]. Tones: ai — 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. Levels are approximate, estimated from word frequency. Spotted a mistake? Let NgonNgu know.