sân bay
[sən˧˧ ʔɓaj˧˧]North, standard
The Vietnamese word for airport is sân bay. Wiktionary also lists cảng hàng không and phi cảng.
Meaning: place designated for airplanes (noun)
Ways to say it
| Vietnamese | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| sân bay | [sən˧˧ ʔɓaj˧˧] (Hà Nội, narrow) [ʂəŋ˧˧ ʔɓaj˧˧] (Huế, narrow) |
North, standard |
| cảng hàng không | [kaːŋ˧˩ haːŋ˨˩ xəwŋ͡m˧˧] (Hà Nội, narrow) [kaːŋ˧˨ haːŋ˦˩ kʰəwŋ͡m˧˧] (Huế, narrow) |
|
| phi cảng | [fi˧˧ kaːŋ˧˩] (Hà Nội, narrow) [fɪj˧˧ kaːŋ˧˨] (Huế, narrow) |
|
| phi trường | [fi˧˧ t͡ɕɨəŋ˨˩] (Hà Nội, narrow) [fɪj˧˧ ʈɨəŋ˦˩] (Huế, narrow) |
South, dated |
The term refers to a place designated for airplanes.
What does it mean word for word?
The term sân bay is composed of sân (yard/field/ground) and bay (to fly).
Which one should you use?
While sân bay is the common way to say airport, cảng hàng không is a more formal, technical or administrative term for an airport compared to the common sân bay.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
Sân bay is the standard, everyday way to say airport in conversation. In contrast, cảng hàng không is used in official contexts, such as news reports, legal documents or airport signage.
Is it said differently in some regions?
Phi trường is a term more commonly associated with Southern dialects or older literature and is less frequent in modern daily speech than sân bay.
Did you know?
- The word phi in phi trường is a Sino-Vietnamese term that can mean 'to fly' or 'to gallop'.
- The word sân in sân bay refers to a yard or courtyard, suggesting the Vietnamese view an airport as a large open courtyard for planes.
Examples in context
- Sân bay cách đây bao xa?How far is it to the airport?This sentence is useful for asking about the distance to the sân bay.Tatoeba #11373374 by chaule3, translation #18189 by CK
- Tôi sống cách xa sân bay.I live far away from the airport.This sentence is useful for stating how far you live from the sân bay.Tatoeba #14034994 by leucammieuvu, translation #14033515 by frpzzd
- Anh ta sẽ chở bạn ra sân bay.He is going to drive you to the airport.This sentence is useful for describing someone driving you to the sân bay.Tatoeba #3470155 by tucm, translation #3258468 by CH
- 12 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Tuấn and Hương are discussing their travel plans.
- TuấnKhi nào chúng ta ra sân bay?When do we go to the airport?
- HươngChúng ta sẽ đi lúc hai giờ.We will go at two o'clock.
- TuấnSân bay có đông người không?Is the airport crowded?
- HươngCó lẽ là rất đông đấy.It probably is very crowded.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “airport” translations and entries sân bay, cảng hàng không, phi cảng, phi trường, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries bay, phi, phi trường, sân, sân bay, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
