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chào

Level ≈A2 (approx.) verbinterjection Top 1,000 most common
Hanoi [t͡ɕaːw˨˩]Huế [t͡ɕaːw˦˩]Saigon [caːw˨˩] browser voice
Syllables · tones
chàofallinghuyền

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

chào means hello; goodbye; to greet.

Meanings of chào in English

Verb

  1. transitive to greet, salute, say hello or goodbye to
    • chào từ biệtto bid farewell
    • chào kháchto solicit a customer
    • Gặp bạn cứ lờ đi không chào.She pretended she didn't know me.

Interjection

  1. hello; hi; bye — a greeting, normally followed by a kinship pronoun (chào anh, chào bà)
  2. alas; ah ≈ xin chào
    • Chào! Ăn thua gì!Ah! It didn't work!

Words with chào

chào cờchào đónchào hỏichào mờichào mừngchào thuađón chàomời chàoxin chàochào đờichào hàngchào mào

Example sentences with chào

  • Chào Meg, dạo này cô thế nào? Hello, Meg, how have you been?
  • Tôi không bao giờ chào tạm biệt. I never said goodbye.
  • Chào George! Dạo này cậu thế nào? Hi, George! How's it going?
  • Tom đã chào tôi từ xa. Tom greeted me from the distance.
  • Chào Mimi! Bạn có khỏe không? Hello Mimi! How are you?
  • Cô ấy đã mỉm cười chào thầy Kato. She greeted Mr Kato with a smile.
  • Cô ấy cuối đầu chào. She inclined her head in greeting.
  • Ây yô, chào đồng chí! Yo, my man!

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, chào could be written as 嘲. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Etymology

Possible non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 朝 (“to meet; to meet a senior person; to attend the emperor's audience”, SV: triều); thus, possibly a doublet of chầu and triều.

Frequently asked questions

What does chào mean in English?

chào (verb) means "hello; goodbye; to greet".

How do you pronounce chào?

IPA: Hanoi [t͡ɕaːw˨˩]; Saigon [caːw˨˩]. Tones: chào — falling tone (huyền).

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.