tán tỉnh ai
In Vietnamese, 'make love' is tán tỉnh ai. Wiktionary also lists tỏ tình với ai and ôm ấp hôn hít ai.
Meaning: to engage in sexual intercourse (verb)
Ways to say it
| Vietnamese | IPA |
|---|---|
| tán tỉnh ai | |
| tỏ tình với ai | |
| ôm ấp hôn hít ai | [ʔom˧˧ ʔəp̚˧˦ hon˧˧ hit̚˧˦ ʔaːj˧˧] (Hà Nội, word by word, narrow) |
| ăn nằm với ai | [ʔan˧˧ nam˨˩ vəːj˧˦ ʔaːj˧˧] (Hà Nội, word by word, narrow) |
The phrase 'make love' refers to engaging in sexual intercourse.
Which one should you use?
The forms provided carry very different meanings than 'make love'. The default form tán tỉnh ai actually means 'to flirt with someone'. tỏ tình với ai is used to confess one's love or romantic feelings to someone. ôm ấp hôn hít ai refers to physical affection such as cuddling and kissing, which is a milder form of intimacy. ăn nằm với ai is a colloquial way to say 'to sleep with someone' or to have a sexual relationship.
Did you know?
- The word tán in the phrase tán tỉnh ai originates from the Chinese character for 'umbrella'.
- The word ôm used in ôm ấp hôn hít ai to mean 'hug' is a cognate of the word om in Bodo Gadaba which means 'to brood' or 'to set on eggs'.
- The phrase ăn nằm với ai literally translates to 'eat and lie with someone', a colloquialism for sexual intimacy.
Examples in context
- Chúng ta nên làm chuyện ấy khi có tình yêu sâu đậm.We should make love when there is deep love between us
Example conversation
Nam and Mai are chatting about a colleague at a party.
- NamMai, cậu thấy anh kia đang tán tỉnh ai không?Mai, do you see who that guy is flirting with?
- MaiHình như anh ấy đang tán tỉnh cậu bạn kia.It seems like he is flirting with that guy.
- NamNhìn anh ta tự tin quá nhỉ.He looks so confident, doesn't he?
- MaiĐúng vậy, thật là thú vị.True, it's quite interesting.
Sources
