khá
Each syllable carries one of six tones; the mark on the vowel tells you which. How the six tones sound →
khá means fairly/decently competent; fine; OK.
Meanings of khá in English
Adjective
- fairly/decently competent; fine; OK
- "decent", below xuất sắc (“excellent”) and giỏi (“good”), above trung bình (“average”), yếu (“poor”) and kém (“terrible”)
- tốt nghiệp loại kháto graduate cum laude
Adverb
- quite; rather; fairly
- fairly competently
Words with khá
Example sentences with khá
- Cô ấy hành xử khá dại dột. She behaved quite foolishly.
- Chúng ta ở trước hạn khá xa. We're well ahead of schedule.
- Chiếc váy cô ấy mặc khá chật. Her skirt fits tightly.
- Tom và Mary khá là khác nhau. Tom and Mary are quite different.
- Nó là một chặng đường khá dài. It’s quite a long way.
- Quyển sách này khá là khó đọc. This book is quite difficult to read.
- Điều đó khá là bất ngờ. That is rather unexpected.
- Tom trở nên khá giận dữ. Tom became quite upset.
Bilingual example sentences from Tatoeba (tatoeba.org, CC BY 2.0 FR).
Usage note: khá
khá means "quite, fairly" before an adjective, and "good, well-off" as an adjective.
- Quite: Món này khá ngon. — This dish is quite good. Tiếng Việt của anh khá tốt. — Your Vietnamese is pretty good.
- Good: học lực khá — good academic standing (a grade between average and excellent)
- Well-off: gia đình khá giả — a fairly well-off family
As a reply, Khá lắm! means "Well done!", often from an older person to a younger one.
Scale of degree: hơi (a bit) · khá (quite) · rất/lắm (very) · cực kỳ (extremely).
Improvement: khá lên — get better: Tình hình đã khá lên. — Things have improved.
Etymology
Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 可 (“can; able; suitable; good”, SV: khả).
Frequently asked questions
What does khá mean in English?
khá (adjective) means "fairly/decently competent; fine; OK".
How do you pronounce khá?
IPA: Hanoi [xaː˧˦]; Saigon [kʰaː˦˥]. Tones: khá — rising tone (sắc).