TuDien.NgonNguViet.comVietnamese ⇄ English dictionary

họ

Level ≈A1 (approx.) pronounnounadjective Top 1,000 most common
Hanoi [hɔ˧˨ʔ]Huế [hɔ˨˩ʔ]Saigon [hɔ˨˩˨] browser voice
Syllables · tones
họheavynặng

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

họ means they; them; family name.

Meanings of họ in English

Pronoun

  1. dialectal, formal, regular usage in Northern Vietnam they/them (used in formal situations or towards people whom the speaker feels neutral about)

Noun

  1. family name; surname
    • Dân Đông Á dùng họ trước tên sau. Người Tây dùng tên trước họ sau.East Asians have their family names come first. Westerners do the opposite.
  2. family
  3. extended family ≈ tộcgia tộcdòng họ

Adjective

  1. in compounds being a cousin
    • anh/chị họa male/female cousin who can be traced back to an ancestor who is/was an elder sibling to yours
    • em họa cousin who can be traced back to an ancestor who is/was a younger sibling to yours

Words with họ

chi họdòng họhọ hàngquan họtên họtrưởng họ

Example sentences with họ

  • Họ rất vội vã đi về nhà. They were in a hurry to get home.
  • Tất cả họ đều đã rời đi. They all left.
  • Họ đưa nó lại cho cô ấy. They gave it back to her.
  • Bạn đã nói gì với họ vậy? What did you say to them?
  • Họ có thể đi bằng xe hỏa. They can go by train.
  • Họ lỗ mất tận 1 triệu yên. Their losses reached one million yen.
  • Cha họ là một tài xế taxi. Their father is a taxi driver.
  • Họ đã thảo luận vấn đề đó. They discussed the problem.

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, họ could be written as 戶, 戸, 户, 𢩜. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Etymology

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 戶 (“family”, SV: hộ). Doublet of cửa and hộ.

Frequently asked questions

What does họ mean in English?

họ (pronoun) means "they; them; family name".

How do you pronounce họ?

IPA: Hanoi [hɔ˧˨ʔ]; Saigon [hɔ˨˩˨]. Tones: họ — heavy tone (nặng).

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.