TuDien.NgonNguViet.comVietnamese ⇄ English dictionary

thời gian

Level ≈A1 (approx.) noun Sino-Vietnamese Top 1,000 most common
Hanoi [tʰəːj˨˩ zaːn˧˧]Huế [tʰəːj˦˩ jaːŋ˧˧]Saigon [tʰəːj˨˩ jaːŋ˧˧] browser voice
Syllables · tones
thờifallinghuyềngianlevelngang

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

thời gian means time.

Chinese characters: 時間 (時 “time” + 間 “interval”)

Meanings of thời gian in English

Noun

  1. time (the inevitable passing of events from past to present then future)
    • Thời gian là vô cùng tận.Time is eternal.
  2. a period or duration of time
    • thời gian làm việcworking hours
    • một thời giana while; for a while
  3. a point in time
    • Thời gian lúc này là một giờ mười lăm phút.The time now is a quarter past one.

Words with thời gian

không-thời gianthời gian biểu

Example sentences with thời gian

  • Chúng ta có rất ít thời gian. We have very little time.
  • Tôi có rất ít thời gian rảnh. I have very little free time.
  • Thời gian không chờ đợi ai cả. Time waits for no one.
  • Chúng tôi có rất ít thời gian. We have very little time.
  • Thời gian không chờ đợi một ai. Time waits for no one.
  • Thời gian sẽ sửa chữa điều này. Time will fix this.
  • Tôi đang cố gắng giết thời gian. I was trying to kill time.
  • Bạn làm gì trong thời gian rảnh? What do you do in your free time?

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

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 時間, composed of 時 (“time”) and 間 (“interval”), from Japanese 時間 (jikan), from Literary Chinese 時間 (shíjiān, “unit of time; period of time; occasion; now”).

Frequently asked questions

What does thời gian mean in English?

thời gian (noun) means "time".

How do you pronounce thời gian?

IPA: Hanoi [tʰəːj˨˩ zaːn˧˧]; Saigon [tʰəːj˨˩ jaːŋ˧˧]. Tones: thời — falling tone (huyền), gian — level tone (ngang).

Is thời gian a Sino-Vietnamese word?

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

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.