cô bé
[ko˧˧ ʔɓɛ˧˦]word by word
In Vietnamese, the phrase for "little girl" is cô bé.
cô bé is often used when a speaker is describing a girl in a third-person context, such as when storytelling or pointing someone out. While cô bé is common, you may also encounter em bé, which translates to "baby" and can be used to refer to little girls or as a neutral term.
Meaning: a female child (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase cô bé is composed of cô, which is a term for a young woman or lady and bé, meaning small or little.
Which one should you use?
While cô bé carries a descriptive or narrative tone similar to "little lady" in a story, bé gái is used more neutrally or biologically to mean "female child."
Did you know?
- In certain historical or literary contexts, the component cô can derive from the character 孤, meaning 'lonesome' or 'solitary'.
- In Vietnamese, kinship terms like cô are used as pronouns based on social hierarchy rather than just biological relation.
- When speaking to a cô bé directly, a Vietnamese adult would rarely use the phrase cô bé and would instead use a pronoun like con.
Examples in context
- Cô bé đó sống ở Brazil.The little girl lived in Brazil.This sentence is useful for practicing how to use cô bé when describing where a person lives.Tatoeba #13173385 by leucammieuvu, translation #875877 by anthearuiz
- Cô bé ấy đang chơi bóng.That little girl is playing with a ball.
- Một cô bé đang đứng ở cửa.A little girl is standing at the door.
Example conversation
Nam and Chi are looking at a photo in a scrapbook.
- NamCô bé trong ảnh là ai vậy?Who is the little girl in the photo?
- ChiĐó là em gái của tôi.That is my younger sister.
- NamCô bé trông rất đáng yêu.The little girl looks very lovely.
- ChiCảm ơn Nam nhé.Thank you, Nam.
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (cô, bé) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries bé, cô, cô bé, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
