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tô

Level ≈B1 (approx.) nounverb Sino-Vietnamese Top 3,000 most common
Hanoi [to˧˧]Huế [tow˧˧]Saigon [tow˧˧] browser voice
Syllables · tones
tôlevelngang

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

tô means large bowl.

Chinese characters: 蘇 Classifier: cái, chiếc — e.g. một cái tô (one large bowl)

Meanings of tô in English

Noun

  1. Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam large bowl ≈ bát ô tô

Verb

  1. intransitive to color (to apply colors to the areas within the boundaries of a line drawing)
  2. transitive to apply a thin layer of paste-like or powdered substance to something
    • tô phấnto apply face powder; to plaster
    • tô sonto apply lipstick
    • tô vôito lime
  3. intransitive to color (to give something color)

Words with tô

bát ô tôtô điểmtô vẽtô mộctô nô

Synonyms and antonyms of tô

Antonyms

chén

Example sentences with tô

  • Cái tô có rất nhiều loại kẹo. The bowl contains many kinds of candy.
  • Mùi hôi làm tô muốn bệnh. The bad smell sickened me.
  • Làm ơn phô tô thêm vài bản nhé. Please have some copies made.
  • Tôi bảo anh ta phô tô lá thư ra thêm bốn bản. I asked him to make four copies of the letter.
  • Có phải trẻ con người Nhật thật sự thích tô mặt trời màu đỏ? Do Japanese children really paint the sun red?
  • Cô ấy theo Ki-tô giáo, đó là lí do vì sao cô ấy đọc Kinh Thánh và đi lễ mỗi Chủ Nhật. She is Christian, that's why she reads the Bible and goes to mass every Sunday.

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, tô could be written as 𥗹. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Frequently asked questions

What does tô mean in English?

tô (noun) means "large bowl".

How do you pronounce tô?

IPA: Hanoi [to˧˧]; Saigon [tow˧˧]. Tones: tô — level tone (ngang).

Is tô a Sino-Vietnamese word?

Yes. tô is a Sino-Vietnamese word from the Chinese characters 蘇.

What classifier is used with tô?

Common classifiers: cái, chiếc — for example "một cái tô" (one large bowl).

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.