TuDien.NgonNguViet.comVietnamese ⇄ English dictionary

về

Level ≈A1 (approx.) verbprepositionnoun Top 1,000 most common
Hanoi [ve˨˩]Huế [vej˦˩]Saigon [vej˨˩] browser voice
Syllables · tones
vềfallinghuyền

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

về means to return (home); about; to.

Meanings of về in English

Verb

  1. to come back or go back (to somewhere one belongs or to some place that is one's own)
    • về nhàto return home
    • về quêto return to one's hometown
    • về nướcto return to one's country

Preposition

  1. about; on
    • Tôi đã suy nghĩ về cô ấy.I have been thinking about her.
    • lo lắng về sức khỏeworry about health
  2. into
    • Các phòng trưng bày nghệ thuật mở cửa về khuya.All the art galleries are open late into the night.

Noun

  1. Southern Vietnam thick layer
    • Trứng muỗi nở ra lăng quăng, nổi trên mặt nước thành từng về lớn trong điều kiện yên tĩnh.Mosquito eggs hatch into larvae that form a thick layer floating near the surface when the water is calm.

Combining form

  1. reduplicant of vỗ, only used in vỗ về
  2. reduplicant of vụng, only used in vụng về

Words with về

bài tập về nhàtrở vềvề hưuvề phíavề hướngvề giàvề phe

Example sentences with về

  • Bạn sẽ về nhà và ở nhà. You'll go home and stay home.
  • Anh ấy tò mò về mọi thứ. He's curious about everything.
  • Họ rất vội vã đi về nhà. They were in a hurry to get home.
  • Ông ấy về nhà lúc 6 giờ. He went home at six.
  • Đó là một bệnh về da đầu. It's a scalp disease.
  • Tôi dự định tự đi về nhà. I plan to go home by myself.
  • Bây giờ bạn có thể về nhà. You may go home now.
  • Bạn sẽ hối hận về điều đó. You'll regret it.

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, về could be written as 𧗱, 衛, 𫟘, 𱸳. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Vietic *veːr (“to return”), from Proto-Austroasiatic *wi:r (“to go around, to return”). Cognate with Muong wềl, Khmu wer ("to roll, to turn to the opposite end") and Khmer វេរ (vei). Doublet of quê through a prefixed protoform.

Frequently asked questions

What does về mean in English?

về (verb) means "to return (home); about; to".

How do you pronounce về?

IPA: Hanoi [ve˨˩]; Saigon [vej˨˩]. Tones: về — 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.