anh
[ʔajŋ̟˧˧]
The Vietnamese phrase for big brother is anh.
anh is used to refer to an older male sibling or a male acquaintance who is older than you.
What does it mean word for word?
The full, literal way to say older brother is anh trai, where anh means older brother and trai means male.
Which one should you use?
In a sibling relationship, anh refers to the older brother, whereas em is used to refer to the younger sibling.
How does it change in a sentence?
To refer to an older brother or older male peer in the third person as 'him', you add ấy to create anh ấy. To specify 'my older brother', you can use the structure anh của tôi or simply anh tôi.
Did you know?
- In some parts of Vietnam, like the province of Quảng Nam, a wife will call her husband anh and the husband will call his wife em.
- Vietnamese uses a complex system of pronouns where the word for 'I' changes based on whether the speaker is the anh or the em in the conversation.
- The term anh can be used playfully or flirtatiously by a woman to address a man, signaling a desire for him to take a protective, 'older brother' role.
Examples in context
- Anh trai của anh ấy rất cao.His big brother is very tall.This sentence is useful for showing how to use anh to describe someone's height.Tatoeba #13480597 by leucammieuvu, translation #13480463 by epiphany
- Sao anh lại gọi chú ấy bằng "anh"? Chú ấy dù lớn tuổi hơn như vẫn là em họ của em.
Anh quen anh ấy từ trước khi anh gặp em. Anh muốn tôn trọng cái có trước.Why did you call him "big brother"? He's still my "younger sibling" despite his seniority.
I knew him way before I met you. I wanted to respect what came first.This example demonstrates how to use anh when addressing or referring to an older male acquaintance to show respect. - Anh ấy là anh trai của tôi.He is my big brother.
- Tôi gọi anh ấy là anh.I call him big brother.
- Anh trai đi đâu vậy?Where is big brother going?
- Ông anh này rất dễ thương.This big brother is very cute.
- Anh của em đang ở đâu?Where is my big brother?
Example conversation
Chi is asking her older brother for help with her homework.
- MinhAnh ơi, giúp em bài này với!Big brother, please help me with this problem!
- ChiĐể anh xem nào, bài này khó quá.Let me see, this problem is too difficult.
- MinhAnh giải thích cho em hiểu nhé.Please explain it so I can understand, big brother.
- ChiĐược rồi, nghe anh nói đây.Alright, listen to me.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry anh, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR, Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0.
