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thầy

Level ≈A2 (approx.) nounpronoun Top 1,000 most common
Hanoi [tʰəj˨˩]Huế [tʰəj˦˩]Saigon [tʰəj˨˩] browser voice
Syllables · tones
thầyfallinghuyền

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

thầy means male teacher.

Meanings of thầy in English

Noun

  1. male teacher ≈ thầy giáo
  2. dated, literary teacher
  3. Northern Vietnam, dated father
    • thầy mẹ/uparents
  4. in compounds Buddhist monk; expert
    • thầy cãilawyer
    • thầy langpractitioner of East Asian alternative medicine

Pronoun

  1. I/me, your male teacher
  2. you, my male teacher
  3. he/him, that male teacher we're talking about
  4. Northern Vietnam, dated I/me, your father
  5. Northern Vietnam, dated you, my father
  6. Northern Vietnam, dated he/him, your/my father

Words with thầy

thầy bóithầy cãithầy chùathầy giáothầy langthầy mothầy thuốcthầy kiệnthầy tuthầy tào

Idioms and sayings with thầy

  • thầy bói xem voi — to see only a part of the whole; to draw incorrect conclusions due to a partial understanding

Example sentences with thầy

  • Tôi đã có một người thầy tốt. I had a good teacher.
  • Cô ấy đã mỉm cười chào thầy Kato. She greeted Mr Kato with a smile.
  • Thầy ấy là giáo viên toán của tôi. He was my maths teacher.
  • Tôi là thầy hiệu trưởng. I'm a schoolmaster.
  • Cho thầy xem bài tập về nhà của em. Show me your homework.
  • Xin chào, thầy/cô. Hello, teacher.
  • Bạn có nhớ tên người thầy đầu tiên của bạn không? Do you remember your first teacher's name?
  • Thầy đừng nói chuyện với học sinh của thầy kiểu đó. That's no way to talk to your students.

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, thầy could be written as 柴, 偨, 師. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Etymology

Attested in Phật thuyết đại báo phụ mẫu ân trọng kinh (佛說大報父母恩重經) as 舍賴 (MC syaeH lajH) (modern SV: xả lại), ultimately from Old Chinese 師 (OC *srij) (B-S) (SV: sư).

Frequently asked questions

What does thầy mean in English?

thầy (noun) means "male teacher".

How do you pronounce thầy?

IPA: Hanoi [tʰəj˨˩]; Saigon [tʰəj˨˩]. Tones: thầy — falling tone (huyền).

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.