Question

What does 'ấy' mean in Vietnamese? I heard it so many times, and now I just don't know what it is. Am I the only stupid language learner?

Answer 1

It just means “that” like in “that person” (người ấy), “that man” (ông ấy), “that day” (hôm ấy) … used more in the northern Vietnam

“Đó” is actually an similar word to “ấy”, more popular in the south, like “ông đó”, “hôm đó” instead

In colloquial dialog, southern Vietnamese tend to omit the word “ấy” or “đó” by adding a “asking” tone to the noun it modifies, for few of the heavily used cases:

Ông đó (that man) → ổng

bà đó (that lady) → bả

cô đó (that young lady) → cổ

hôm đó (that day) → hổm

Answer 2

It's added to refer to someone like him/her , em ấy, anh ấy, etc... Of coưrse you can only use it for someone you know or it would be anh ta , chi ta, etc …

Answer 3

It’s a wonderfully double-meaning, double-entendre word that populated Viet language.

It’s can be a flirty way to announce “you” or “it” or third person. Or can be a flirty way to call you without using your name, to cover that speaker’s forgotten your name.

declaration on the level of WHOA~ but with slighter emphasis compared to whoa. “whoa there, tiger, dont go so fast.”

Answer 4

“ấy” is the dominant pronoun, acting at the beginning of the sentence and as the subject. When it in the subject, it just have to be the top of a sentence, and the word is the back. Meaning: Only people, things that are far away from the speaker and the listener or only things that are mentioned in advance; or refers to the person, thing, or event that has just been mentioned before.

Example:

Cô ấy là ai vậy ( who is she ?)

Cô ấy là bạn tôi. ( she is my friend)

They said “ even the strong storms aren't as scary as Vietnamese grammae" :)) FINGHTING !!!

Answer 5

I can understand your confusion.

The word “ ấy ” has a lot of meaning.

#1.) Pronoun

you

my buddy/gal

Synonym of “ đằng ấy ”

#2.) Particle

[sentence-ending intensifying particle]

Synonym of Particle “ đó ” [SV]:

[emphasizes a quality that the listener may not have known]

“you see?”

“I'm telling you”

#3.) Determiner

that

those

I hope that this helps?