How to Say "Short" in Vietnamese

ngắn

[ŋan˧˦]

The English word short is translated into Vietnamese as ngắn.

ngắn is an adjective used to describe something that is brief, abrupt, pointed or petulant in nature.

Meaning: abrupt, brief, pointed, petulant (adj)

Did you know?

If you want to say a person is 'short' in height, do not use ngắn, as that would sound like you are describing their physical length like a piece of string. Instead, use the word thấp to describe a person's stature.
The word ngắn is a linguistic relative of the word ŋanˀ, which means 'low' in the Arem language of the Vietnamese highlands.
Vietnamese does not use the word ngắn to describe a lack of money, employing entirely different concepts to express being 'short' on cash.

Chúng ngắn và mỏng.
They are short and thin.
This sentence shows how to use ngắn to describe physical dimensions like length and thickness.
Tatoeba #10291515 by Alex_do, translation #305383 by CK
Danh sách này ngắn.
The list is short.
This sentence demonstrates describing the length of a list using ngắn.
Tatoeba #14036433 by leucammieuvu, translation #14036121 by araneo
Tôi muốn cắt tóc ngắn.
I want to cut my hair short.
This sentence illustrates using ngắn when talking about hair length.
Tatoeba #11302808 by chaule3, translation #11302792 by chaule3
Anh ấy cao nhưng tóc ngắn.
He is tall but has short hair.
Chiếc váy này hơi ngắn.
This dress is a bit short.
11 more sentences on Tatoeba

Minh and Lan are talking about a tense phone call.

Sources

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