cầu

Level ≈A2 (approx.) nounverb Sino-Vietnamese Top 3,000 most common

Hanoi [kəw˨˩]Huế [kəw˦˩]Saigon [kəw˨˩] browser voice

Syllables · tones

cầufallinghuyền

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

cầu means bridge.

Chinese characters: 球 Classifier: cây — e.g. một cây cầu (one bridge)

Meanings of cầu in English

Noun

bridge (construction or natural feature that spans a divide)
Southern Vietnam, abbreviation short for nhà cầu (“latrine; lavatory”)

Noun

jianzi shuttlecock
- đá cầuto play jianzi
badminton badminton shuttlecock
abbreviation short for cầu mây (“sepak takraw ball”)

Verb

to ask for; to demand
- Không ai cầu mày làm vậy cả.No one asked you to do that.
to pray that something will happen; compare ước (“to wish”)
- Tao cầu (trời) cho cả nhà mày bị xe cán chết !I pray (to heaven) your whole family dies in a car crash!

Noun

demand

Words with cầu

Idioms and sayings with cầu

cầu được ước thấy — the one getting what they want

Synonyms and antonyms of cầu

Antonyms

cung

Example sentences with cầu

Dòng sông chảy qua cây cầu này. The river flows under the bridge.
Cây cầu này không dài lắm. That bridge isn't long.
Có nhiều cây cầu trong thành phố này. There are many bridges in this city.
Cây cầu được hoàn thành đúng tiến độ. The bridge was finished on time.
Tom đang cầu mưa. Tom is praying for rain.
Chiếc cầu sập xuống. The bridge collapsed.
Cây cầu mới sẽ được hoàn thành vào tháng ba. The new bridge will have been completed by March.
Chúng tôi sống cách khoảng ba dặm phía trên cây cầu này. We live about three miles above this bridge.

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, cầu could be written as 毬, 求, 梂, 橋. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 球 (“ball; sphere”).

Frequently asked questions

What does cầu mean in English?

cầu (noun) means "bridge".

How do you pronounce cầu?

IPA: Hanoi [kəw˨˩]; Saigon [kəw˨˩]. Tones: cầu — falling tone (huyền).

Is cầu a Sino-Vietnamese word?

Yes. cầu is a Sino-Vietnamese word from the Chinese characters 球.

What classifier is used with cầu?

Common classifiers: cây — for example "một cây cầu" (one bridge).

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.