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thể thao

Level ≈A2 (approx.) noun Sino-Vietnamese Top 1,000 most common
Hanoi [tʰe˧˩ tʰaːw˧˧]Huế [tʰej˧˨ tʰaːw˧˧]Saigon [tʰej˨˩˦ tʰaːw˧˧] browser voice
Syllables · tones
thểdippinghỏithaolevelngang

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

thể thao means a sport.

Chinese characters: 體操 Classifier: môn — e.g. một môn thể thao (one sport)

Meanings of thể thao in English

Noun

  1. a sport (any athletic activity that uses physical skills)
    • thể dục thể thaoexercise and sports
    • quần thể thaoa pair of sports pants, especially one with stripes on the sides

Words with thể thao

thể thao gia

Example sentences with thể thao

  • Cô ấy rất hay chơi thể thao. She plays a lot of sports.
  • Tôi chơi thể thao để giải trí. I play sports for entertainment.
  • Bạn có thích xem thể thao không? Do you enjoy watching sports?
  • Bạn có thích chơi thể thao không? Do you like playing sports?
  • Tom thích nói chuyện về thể thao. Tom likes to talk about sports.
  • Chúng tôi nói chuyện về thể thao. We talked about sports.
  • Thể thao tốt cho sức khoẻ. Sport is good for your health.
  • Tom thích nói về thể thao. Tom likes to talk about sports.

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

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 體操, from Japanese 体操 (taisō, “gymnastics”), perhaps from the syntactically Japanese phrase 体を操る (karada-o ayatsuru, literally “to manipulate the body”). A syntactically Chinese formation would be *操體 /操体, where the verb comes first. It is not clear how "gymnastics" became "sport" in Vietnamese.

Frequently asked questions

What does thể thao mean in English?

thể thao (noun) means "a sport".

How do you pronounce thể thao?

IPA: Hanoi [tʰe˧˩ tʰaːw˧˧]; Saigon [tʰej˨˩˦ tʰaːw˧˧]. Tones: thể — dipping tone (hỏi), thao — level tone (ngang).

Is thể thao a Sino-Vietnamese word?

Yes. thể thao is a Sino-Vietnamese word from the Chinese characters 體操.

What classifier is used with thể thao?

Common classifiers: môn — for example "một môn thể thao" (one a sport).

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.