chào

See also: chao, Chao, chāo, cháo, chǎo, chão, and cha0

Mandarin

Romanization

chào (chao⁴, Zhuyin ㄔㄠˋ)

1. Template:pinyin reading of
2. Template:pinyin reading of
3. Template:pinyin reading of
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Vietnamese

Vietnamese phrasebook

This entry is part of the phrasebook project, which presents criteria for inclusion based on utility, simplicity and commonness.

Etymology

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 朝 (“to meet; to meet a senior person; to attend the emperor's audience”, SV: triều). Related to chầu (“to attend an audience; to attend upon (in design)”). (Nguyễn Văn Khang. Từ ngoại lai trong tiếng Việt, 2007)

The similarity to Italian ciao, which also means both "hello" and "goodbye", is purely coincidental.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕaːw˨˩]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕaːw˦˩]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [caːw˨˩]

Verb

chào

1. to bow, to greet, to salute

   chào từ biệt ― to bid farewell

   Gặp bạn cứ lờ đi không chào.

   [One] pretends to not know an old friend and does not greet him/her.

2. to solicit (customer)

   chào khách ― to solicit customer

Interjection

chào

1. good morning; good afternoon; good evening; hello; hi

   Chào mọi người! ― Hello everybody!

2. goodbye; bye

   Chào mọi người! ― Bye everybody!

3. alas; ah

   Chào! Ăn thua gì! ― Ah! It didn't work!

Synonyms

• (more formal) xin chào (“hello”)