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thời

Level ≈A2 (approx.) nounparticle Sino-Vietnamese Top 3,000 most common
Hanoi [tʰəːj˨˩]Huế [tʰəːj˦˩]Saigon [tʰəːj˨˩] browser voice
Syllables · tones

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

thời means time; moment; season.

Chinese characters: 時

Meanings of thời in English

Noun

  1. time, moment, season
    • Có thời ngày nào tôi cũng ra ruộng bắt dế, thả diều với lũ bạn.There was a time when I went to the fields every day to catch crickets and fly the kites with my friends.
  2. chance, opportunity

Particle

  1. Northern Vietnam, dated alternative form of thì
    • O tròn như quả trứng gà. Ô thời/thì đội mũ, ơ thời/thì mang râu.O is rounded like a chicken egg. Ô wears a hat, ơ has a beard.

Words with thời

Example sentences with thời

  • Thời đó làm gì có đài ra-đi-ô. At that time, radio still wasn't a thing.
  • Chúng tôi biết nhau từ thời thơ ấu. We have known each other since childhood.
  • Tôi chuyên về lịch sử thời Trung cổ. I specialize in medieval history.
  • Loại thuốc mới phô bày hiệu ứng tức thời. The new medicine demonstrated an immediate effect.
  • Dịch tức thời đã phá vỡ bức tường ngôn ngữ. Simultaneous translation broke linguistic walls.
  • Tôi nhớ những người bạn thời thơ ấu của mình. I miss my friends from childhood.
  • Bạn đang trải qua thời hoàng kim của tuổi trẻ. You're in the prime of your youth.
  • Giấc mơ thời thơ ấu của tôi đã trở thành hiện thực. My childhood dream came true.

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, thời could be written as 寺, 𪰛, 辰, 旹. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 時. Doublet of thì and giờ.

Frequently asked questions

What does thời mean in English?

thời (noun) means "time; moment; season".

How do you pronounce thời?

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

Is thời a Sino-Vietnamese word?

Yes. thời is a Sino-Vietnamese word from the Chinese characters 時.

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.