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bé

Level ≈A2 (approx.) adjectivenounpronoun Top 1,000 most common
Hanoi [ʔɓɛ˧˦]Huế [ʔɓɛ˨˩˦]Saigon [ʔɓɛ˦˥] browser voice
Syllables · tones
bérisingsắc

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

bé means small; little; tiny.

Meanings of bé in English

Adjective

  1. small; little; tiny ≈ nhỏ
  2. of sound small, barely audible ≈ nhỏ
  3. little; very young ≈ nhỏ
    • hồi béwhen I/he/she/we was/were little

Noun

  1. informal girl
  2. abbreviation short for em bé (“baby”)

Pronoun

  1. you, little child
  2. informal you, young person
  3. informal you, young girl

Words with bé

bé bỏngbé nhỏbé tíbé tịcô béem bénhỏ bébé bibé Liênbé Nabé yêubé đường

Synonyms and antonyms of bé

Antonyms

lớnto

Example sentences with bé

  • Mary là một bé gái xinh đẹp. Mary is a beautiful girl.
  • Bé gái được sinh vào giờ nào? At what hour was she born?
  • Bé nhà tôi muốn nói chuyện. My baby wants to talk.
  • Cô ấy sinh bé gái hồi hôm qua. She gave birth to a daughter yesterday.
  • Thằng bé nào đã làm chuyện đó vậy? Which boy did that?
  • Thắng bé tháo cái đài ra từng phần. The boy took the radio apart.
  • Vài thằng bé đang chơi đùa trong rừng. Some boys are playing in the forest.
  • Giày của tôi bé quá, tôi cần đôi mới. My shoes are too small. I need new ones.

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, bé could be written as 𡮣, 𡭬, 𡮤. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Etymology

Derived from Old Chinese 庳 (*beʔ) (SV: ti, tì).

Frequently asked questions

What does bé mean in English?

bé (adjective) means "small; little; tiny".

How do you pronounce bé?

IPA: Hanoi [ʔɓɛ˧˦]; Saigon [ʔɓɛ˦˥]. Tones: bé — 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.