rùa
[zuə˨˩]
The Vietnamese word for turtle is rùa.
The term rùa is a general word that refers to both land tortoises and sea turtles.
Meaning: land or marine reptile with a shell (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
In natural speech, when you are referring to the animal, the noun rùa is almost always preceded by the classifier con to form con rùa (the turtle).
Did you know?
- Vietnamese folklore tells the story of the Golden Turtle God Kim Quy, who helped King An Dương Vương build his fortress and provided him with a magic crossbow.
- The legend of Hoàn Kiếm Lake in Hanoi centers on a giant turtle that reclaimed a magic sword given to the Emperor by a deity.
- The word rùa follows a linguistic trend where many animal names, such as those for spiders nhền nhện and butterflies bươm bướm, shifted from reduplicated forms to single roots.
Examples in context
- Con rùa di chuyển từ từ ra biển.The turtle moves slowly to the sea.Tatoeba #11295299 by chaule3, translation #11295296 by chaule3
- Tôi đã làm việc ở bệnh viện Rùa gần 14 năm rổi, và Emma vinh dự khi được xử lí những khối u trông đáng sợ nhất tôi từng thấy.I've been working at the Turtle Hospital for almost 14 years, and Emma takes the cake for the scariest-looking tumor that I've seen.This sentence uses rùa as part of a proper name for a hospital.Tatoeba #13921322 by leucammieuvu, translation #13921088 by Waldelfe
- Tôi đã thấy một con rùa ở hồ.I saw a turtle at the lake.
- Bạn có biết rằng con rùa nhỏ ấy đã sống 100 năm rồi?Did you know that little turtle has been alive for 100 years?
- Con rùa này có cái mai rất to.This turtle has a very large shell.
Example conversation
Hùng and Mai are walking near a small pond in a park.
- HùngMai ơi, nhìn kìa, có một con rùa!Mai, look, there is a turtle!
- MaiÔi, nó đang bơi dưới nước kìa.Oh, it is swimming under the water.
- HùngAnh thấy nó trông thật hiền lành.I see it looks very gentle.
- MaiĐúng vậy, con rùa đó thật dễ thương.That's right, that turtle is so cute.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “turtle” translations and entries rùa, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries rùa, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
