phen

noun Top 5,000 most common

Hanoi [fɛn˧˧]Huế [fɛŋ˧˧]Saigon [fɛŋ˧˧] browser voice

Syllables · tones

phenlevelngang

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

phen means time.

Meanings of phen in English

Noun

literary time ≈ lần bận

Example sentences with phen

Tôi đã đến thăm Pa-ri, nhưng tôi đã không leo lên tháp Ép-phen vì tôi sợ độ cao. I visited Paris, but I didn't climb the Eiffel tower, since I'm afraid of heights.

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, phen could be written as 番, 蕃, 藩, 𬏗. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Etymology

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 番 (SV: phiên).

Frequently asked questions

What does phen mean in English?

phen (noun) means "time".

How do you pronounce phen?

IPA: Hanoi [fɛn˧˧]; Saigon [fɛŋ˧˧]. Tones: phen — 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. Spotted a mistake? Let NgonNgu know.