đau
[ʔɗaw˧˧]
The Vietnamese word for hurt is đau.
đau is used to express physical pain or injury. While it can function as a verb, it is most frequently used as an adjective to describe the sensation of pain.
Meaning: to cause physical pain and/or injury (verb)
Which one should you use?
While đau describes the sensation of being painful or hurting, the word đau lòng is used specifically to express emotional hurt or being heartbroken.
How does it change in a sentence?
When you want to describe a body part that is in pain, it is common to use the phrase bị đau to indicate the state of being in pain. To express emotional heartache, you combine đau with lòng (heart/soul) to form đau lòng.
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly use đau as a transitive verb meaning 'to cause pain' (for example, 'He hurt me'). In Vietnamese, đau describes the sensation itself. If you want to say someone caused pain, you should use làm đau instead.
Did you know?
- In Vietnamese, the word lòng in đau lòng refers to the internal organs or the 'belly' as the seat of emotion, rather than the physical heart organ.
- The word đau is often paired with bị, a marker that implies the pain was forced upon the person by an external cause or bad luck.
- The word đau shares a deep linguistic link with nau, a term specifically used to describe the 'hurt' of birth pangs.
Examples in context
- Mắt tôi bị đau.My eyes hurt.This sentence shows how to say your eyes hurt using đau.Tatoeba #9734318 by dotheduyet1999, translation #417801 by CK
- Đâu tôi bị đau.My head hurt.This sentence shows how to say your head hurts using đau.Tatoeba #13339877 by leucammieuvu, translation #10136006 by CK
- Chân tôi bị đau.My legs hurt.This sentence shows how to say your legs hurt using đau.Tatoeba #13341069 by leucammieuvu, translation #3823650 by CK
- Tôi đã bị tổn thươngI am hurt
- Tôi đau đầuI have a headache
- Cái vết thương đó rất đau đớnThat wound is very painful.
- Đau ngựcChest pain.
- 25 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Nam accidentally bumps his arm into a wall.
- NamỐi, tôi vừa làm đau cánh tay rồi!Ouch, I just hurt my arm!
- ChiAnh có bị đau lắm không, Nam?Does it hurt a lot, Nam?
- NamCó, nó đau quá.Yes, it hurts so much.
- ChiĐể Chi xem vết thương cho anh nhé.Let Chi look at the wound for you.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry đau, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries đau, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
