bảo

See also: Appendix:Variations of "bao"

Vietnamese edit

Pronunciation edit

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓaːw˧˩]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓaːw˧˨]
(Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʔɓaːw˨˩˦]

Etymology 1 edit

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 報 (SV: báo). Doublet of báo.

Alternative forms edit

biểu

Verb edit

bảo • (𠸒)

to inform or command by telling
Lại đây mẹ bảo.
Come here, I got something to tell you. / I got something I want you to do.

Nó bảo thứ hai nghỉ.
She told me we don't need to come on Monday.

Đã bảo rồi !
Told you!

Bảo sao nghe vậy.
I'm only doing what I'm told to do. / I'm only following orders.
(literally, “I'm listening to what I'm told.”)

Có câm không thì bảo !
Shut the hell up or else!
(literally, “Shut up or I'll tell you to!”)

Usage notes edit

If nói (“to say; to utter; to talk; to speak”) is grammatically analogous to English say in that it has an "indirect object" which follows với (“to”), then bảo is analogous to English tell in that it does not require với:

Em nói với anh…
I said to you…
Em bảo anh…
I told you…

There are some cases where a pronoun can be mistaken for an "indirect object" of nói:

Em nói anh nghe.
I'm telling you this.

This sentence can be changed into Em nói cho anh nghe (literally “I'm saying so that you hear.”). The verb nghe (“to hear”) is a clue that anh (“you”) is not merely an "object", but actually the subject of a different clause.

Derived terms edit

Derived terms

khuyên bảo

Etymology 2 edit

Sino-Vietnamese word from 寶 (“precious”).

Alternative forms edit

bửu

Affix edit

bảo

precious

Derived terms edit

Derived terms