Tôi nghe bằng tai.

I hear with my ears.

Breakdown of Tôi nghe bằng tai.

• tôi: me
• nghe: to hear
• bằng: by
• tai: the ear

Questions & Answers about Tôi nghe bằng tai.

What does each word in Tôi nghe bằng tai mean?

A word-by-word breakdown is:

• Tôi = I
• nghe = hear / listen
• bằng = with / by means of / using
• tai = ear / ears

So the structure is basically:

• Tôi
  • nghe
    • bằng tai
• I
  • hear
    • using ears

In very natural English, this is I hear with my ears.

Why is there no word for my in tai?

Vietnamese often leaves out possessive words like my, your, or his/her when the meaning is obvious from context, especially with body parts.

So:

• tai literally means ear / ears
• but in this sentence, it naturally means my ears, because the subject is Tôi (I)

This is very normal in Vietnamese. English usually requires my ears, but Vietnamese often does not.

Does tai mean ear or ears here?