tá

Level ≈B2 (approx.) numeralnounverb Sino-Vietnamese Top 5,000 most common

Hanoi [taː˧˦]Huế [taː˨˩˦]Saigon [taː˦˥] browser voice

Syllables · tones

tárisingsắc

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

tá means dozen.

Chinese characters: 佐

Meanings of tá in English

Numeral

dozen ≈ lố
- một tá trứngone dozen eggs

Noun

field officer (higher than uý but lower than tướng)

Verb

to borrow

Interjection

An expression of inquisitiveness or emotionality

Verb

in compounds to help

Words with tá

đại tá thiếu tá thượng tá trung tá tướng tá phụ tá y tá giả tá tá hoả tá tràng tá túc

Example sentences with tá

Cô ấy đã mua hai tá trứng. She bought two dozen eggs.

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, tá could be written as 些. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Etymology

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 打 (SV: đả), perhaps from a rendition in Mandarin 打臣 (dǎchén, đả thần), from English dozen.

Frequently asked questions

What does tá mean in English?

tá (numeral) means "dozen".

How do you pronounce tá?

IPA: Hanoi [taː˧˦]; Saigon [taː˦˥]. Tones: tá — rising tone (sắc).

Is tá a Sino-Vietnamese word?

Yes. tá is a Sino-Vietnamese word from the Chinese characters 佐.

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.