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cá

Level ≈A1 (approx.) nounverbparticle Top 1,000 most common
Hanoi [kaː˧˦]Huế [kaː˨˩˦]Saigon [kaː˦˥] browser voice
Syllables · tones
cárisingsắc

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

cá means fish.

Classifier: con — e.g. một con cá (one fish)

Meanings of cá in English

Noun

  1. fish (vertebrate animal)
    • Cá heo và cá voi không phải là cá.Dolphins and whales aren't fish.

Verb

  1. colloquial to bet

Particle

  1. Internet slang, euphemistic, slang euphemistic form of k (thousand)
    • bánh giá 30 cácake selling for 30 thousand

Words with cá

bể cábói cácá bông laucá bốngcá bộtcá bơncá chạchcá cháycá chẽmcá chépcá chétcá chiêncá chìnhcá chốtcá chuốicá cờcá cơmcá cúicá đaocá đốicá đùcá đuốicá giếccá hẻncá heocá hềcá hổ kìnhcá hốcá hồicá hồng

Example sentences with cá

  • Có lẽ tôi sẽ đi câu cá. I'll probably be fishing.
  • Tôi thích đi câu cá với bố. I like going fishing with my dad.
  • Người Hy Lạp cũng hay ăn cá. The Greeks also eat fish often.
  • Con cá này có nhiều xương nhỏ. This fish has a lot of small bones in it.
  • Tom dự định đi câu cá. Tom plans on going fishing.
  • Có rất nhiều cá ở biển. There are a lot of fish in the sea.
  • Tôi thích câu cá ở sông. I like to fish in the river.
  • Tôi muốn ăn cá và quả xa kê. I'd like to eat fish and breadfruit.

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, cá could be written as 𩵜, 亇, 个. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *ʔa-kaːʔ, from Proto-Austroasiatic *kaʔ. Cognate with Thavung ก้า, Khmer កា (kaa, “prefix for fish”), Pacoh aca, Bahnar ka, Mang ʔaː¹, Khasi 'kha/dohkha, Mon က (kaˀ), Car Nicobarese kāḵ.

Frequently asked questions

What does cá mean in English?

cá (noun) means "fish".

How do you pronounce cá?

IPA: Hanoi [kaː˧˦]; Saigon [kaː˦˥]. Tones: cá — rising tone (sắc).

What classifier is used with cá?

Common classifiers: con — for example "một con cá" (one fish).

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.