tao

Level ≈A1 (approx.) pronoun Top 1,000 most common

Hanoi [taːw˧˧]Huế [taːw˧˧]Saigon [taːw˧˧] browser voice

Syllables · tones

taolevelngang

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

tao means I/me.

Meanings of tao in English

Pronoun

Northern Vietnam, Southern Vietnam, familiar, disrespectful or hostile I/me

Words with tao

mày tao chi tớ tao nhã tao tác

Synonyms and antonyms of tao

Antonyms

mày mi

Example sentences with tao

Mày gan lắm. Dám bơ tao à. You must have some nerve to ignore me.
Tụi tao ăn bơ trên bánh mì. We eat butter on bread.
Sau khi ăn, tụi tao đi ngủ. After we ate, we went to sleep.
Quá dễ để tao giải bài toán. It is easy for me to solve the problem.
Tụi tao đang học tiếng Ả Rập. We are learning Arabic.
Tao muốn mày không làm gì cả. I want you to do nothing.
Tao biết tỏng trò của mày rồi. I know what your game is.
Mày có muốn tao sơn mày không? Do you want me to paint you?

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, tao could be written as 蚤, 騷. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *soː (“I; me”). Cognate with Thavung โซว.

Frequently asked questions

What does tao mean in English?

tao (pronoun) means "I/me".

How do you pronounce tao?

IPA: Hanoi [taːw˧˧]; Saigon [taːw˧˧]. Tones: tao — 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. Levels are approximate, estimated from word frequency. Spotted a mistake? Let NgonNgu know.