gay

Level ≈B2 (approx.) adjective Top 5,000 most common

Hanoi [ɣaj˧˧]Huế [ɣaj˧˧]Saigon [ɣa(ː)j˧˧] browser voice

Syllables · tones

gaylevelngang

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

gay means difficult; hard.

Meanings of gay in English

Adjective

difficult; hard

Adjective

homosexual (of male)

Words with gay

đỏ gay gay cấn gay gắt gay go

Example sentences with gay

Bị gay thì sao? Cái đó cũng là tội à? So what if I am gay? Is it a crime?

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, gay could be written as 咳, 垓, 荄. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English gay

Frequently asked questions

What does gay mean in English?

gay (adjective) means "difficult; hard".

How do you pronounce gay?

IPA: Hanoi [ɣaj˧˧]; Saigon [ɣa(ː)j˧˧]. Tones: gay — 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.