Mẹ hôn bé.

The mother kisses the child.

Breakdown of Mẹ hôn bé.

• mẹ: the mother
• bé: the child; little one
• hôn: to kiss

Questions & Answers about Mẹ hôn bé.

What is the word order in Mẹ hôn bé?

It follows the very common Vietnamese pattern:

Subject + Verb + Object

So here:

• Mẹ = the subject
• hôn = the verb
• bé = the object

That means Vietnamese is behaving like English here in terms of basic order: Mother kisses baby / Mom kisses the child.

Does mẹ mean mother or mom here?

Yes. Mẹ can mean mother or mom, depending on context and translation style.

In Vietnamese, family words are used very naturally and very often. So mẹ is a normal everyday word, not unusually formal.

Depending on context, it could refer to:

• mother
• mom
• my mother
• the mother

Vietnamese often leaves those distinctions to context rather than marking them directly.

Why is there no word for the, a, or my?