Châu Mỹ
In Vietnamese, "america" is translated as Châu Mỹ.
Châu Mỹ refers to the landmasses of the Western Hemisphere, encompassing both North and South America.
Which one should you use?
While Châu Mỹ refers to the landmasses of the Americas, the shortened form Mỹ is most commonly used in Vietnamese to refer specifically to the United States of America.
Did you know?
- The word Mỹ used for 'America' is actually the Sino-Vietnamese reading of the character for 'beautiful', making the name a phonetic approximation of 'America' that also means 'beautiful land'.
- In Vietnamese, the word châu is a homonym that can refer to a 'continent' in Châu Mỹ or a 'pearl' depending on the original Chinese character used.
- While Châu Mỹ denotes the continents, the word Mỹ is used alone for the United States, reflecting a common East Asian pattern of simplifying long foreign names into a single meaningful character.
Examples in context
- Người Viking được cho là đã khám phá ra châu Mỹ trước Columbus.It is said that the Vikings preceded Columbus in discovering America.This sentence is useful for discussing the historical discovery of Châu Mỹ.Tatoeba #8999051 by dotheduyet1999, translation #35544 by Dejo
- Người ta nói rằng những người Viking đã khám phá ra châu Mỹ trước Columbus.It's said that the Vikings discovered America before Columbus did.Tatoeba #8999055 by dotheduyet1999, translation #2722424 by CK
- Hoa Kỳ là một quốc gia phát triển với nền văn hóa đa dạng.America is a developed country with a diverse culture.
- Tôi muốn đi du lịch khắp Châu Mỹ.I want to travel across the Americas.
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Hương and Tuấn are discussing geography.
- HươngTuấn, cậu có biết Châu Mỹ gồm bao nhiêu quốc gia không?Tuấn, do you know how many countries are in the Americas?
- TuấnTớ không nhớ chính xác, nhưng chắc là rất nhiều.I don't remember exactly, but there are probably a lot.
- HươngTớ đang đọc một cuốn sách về lịch sử Châu Mỹ.I am reading a book about the history of the Americas.
- TuấnCuốn sách đó nghe có vẻ thú vị đấy.That book sounds interesting.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries Châu, châu, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
