Tôi thích áo màu xanh.

I

Breakdown of Tôi thích áo màu xanh.

• thích: to like
• màu xanh: green
• áo: the shirt

Questions & Answers about Tôi thích áo màu xanh.

In Tôi thích áo màu xanh, what does tôi mean exactly, and is it always the right word for I?

Tôi means I / me and is a neutral, fairly polite pronoun for referring to yourself.

• It’s safe in many situations: with strangers, in writing, in class, in formal speech.
• However, Vietnamese pronouns depend a lot on age, relationship, and context. Very commonly people use:
  • em for “I” when speaking to someone older or in a higher position
  • anh for “I” if you are a man speaking to someone younger or to a woman of similar age
  • chị for “I” if you are a woman speaking to someone younger or to a man of similar age
  • con when speaking to parents, much older people, or in religious context (to God)

So Tôi thích áo màu xanh is grammatically correct and neutral, but real-life speech often replaces tôi with another pronoun depending on who you’re talking to.

What does áo mean? Is it specifically shirt, or can it mean clothes in general?