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tệ

Level ≈A2 (approx.) adjectivenoun Sino-Vietnamese Top 1,000 most common
Hanoi [te˧˨ʔ]Huế [tej˨˩ʔ]Saigon [tej˨˩˨] browser voice
Syllables · tones
tệheavynặng

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

tệ means bad.

Chinese characters: 弊

Meanings of tệ in English

Adjective

  1. bad (at doing something)

Noun

  1. abbreviation short for tệ nạn

Noun

  1. abbreviation short for nhân dân tệ (“renminbi (currency of nhân dân tệ (“renminbi (currency of China)”)

Words with tệ

tệ bạctệ hạitệ nạnthậm tệtồi tệ

Example sentences with tệ

  • Có lẽ nó không tệ đến thế. Maybe it's not that bad.
  • Hệ thống này tệ cỡ nào thế? Just how bad is this system?
  • Tôi đã mong chờ điều tệ hơn. I expected worse.
  • Nó không tệ như tôi đã nghĩ. It wasn't as bad as I thought.
  • Ngày mai, chuyện sẽ còn tệ hơn. Tomorrow, it'll be worse.
  • Tom là một gã rất tệ. Tom's a very bad guy.
  • Anh ta học toán dở tệ. He is terrible at math.
  • Đồ ăn ở nhà hàng đó thật tệ. The food at that restaurant was lousy.

Bilingual example sentences from Tatoeba (tatoeba.org, CC BY 2.0 FR).

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 弊.

Frequently asked questions

What does tệ mean in English?

tệ (adjective) means "bad".

How do you pronounce tệ?

IPA: Hanoi [te˧˨ʔ]; Saigon [tej˨˩˨]. Tones: tệ — heavy tone (nặng).

Is tệ a Sino-Vietnamese word?

Yes. tệ is a Sino-Vietnamese word from the Chinese characters 弊.

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.