gái

See also: gai, Gai, gài, gãi, gāi, gǎi, and ga'i

Noone

Verb

gái

  1. say

References

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *-keːʔ (“woman; female”); compare cái.

Pronunciation

Noun

gái (𡛔)

  1. (collective) girls and women
    gái đẹp
    beautiful girls and women
  2. (collective, informal, colloquial) whores

Adjective

gái

  1. (only in fixed expressions, of people) Synonym of nữ (“female”)
    chị gái
    an older sister
    em gái
    a younger sister
    con gái
    a daughter / girls
    cháu gái
    a granddaughter / a niece
    bác gái
    a woman who's presumably slightly older than one's parent
    bạn gái
    a young female friend / a young girl or woman / a girlfriend
    Bác gái có nhà không ạ?
    Is your wife / your mother (who is presumably slightly older than one of my parents) home?
    • 2005, Nguyễn Ngọc Tư, "Biển người mênh mông" (in Cánh đồng bất tận), Trẻ publishing house
      Phi hỏi, "Vậy bác Sáu gái đâu rồi ?"
      Phi asked, "Where did 'Mrs. Sixth' go then?"
      (literally, “Phi asked, "So where is that woman who is presumably a little older than one of my parents and who is the wife of a guy I know is his parents' fifth child?"”)

Usage notes
  • Unlike other kinship terms, bác is gender-neutral when used to address a senior stranger, therefore it could be accompanied by trai or gái for clarification.

See also
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.