vào

Alternative forms

• (Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) vô (no diphthongization)

Etymology

Attested as Northern Middle Vietnamese ꞗĕào, ꞗĕaò in the Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (1651). Compare the Central-Southern form vô.

The Northern Old Vietnamese form is attested in Phật thuyết đại báo phụ mẫu ân trọng kinh (佛說大報父母恩重經) as 包 (SV: bao), showing that diphthongization already took place in these dialects by then. The Central-Southern form vô started showing up on texts much later, spelled chiefly as 無 (SV: vô), inherited from unattested non-Northern Old Vietnamese dialects without diphthongization.

The usage of vào (especially in writing) by speakers of Central-Southern dialects can be contributed to borrowing from Northern dialects. On the other hand, the undiphthongized Southern form with palatal initial latter spread to the Northern and Central dialects as an interjection.

Most prepositions in Vietnamese were originally verbs: cho (“to give; for”), đến (“to come; to”), tới (“to arrive; to”), lên (“to go up; onto”), ở (“to stay; at, in”), theo (“to follow; according to”), về (“to return; about”).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [vaːw˨˩]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [vaːw˦˩]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [vaːw˨˩] ~ [jaːw˨˩]

• Audio (Hà Nội):

  (file)

Verb

vào • (𠓨, 包, 󱚢)

1. (transitive) to enter

   vào nhà ― to enter the/a house

   Xe đi vào trung tâm thành phố.

   The car goes into the city center.

2. (transitive, by extension) to go southwards in Vietnam

   vào nam, ra bắc ― to go southwards and northwards

   từ Hà Nội vào Huế ― to go from Hanoi down south to Hue

   vào Sài Gòn ― to go to Ho Chi Minh City from its north

3. (transitive) to become a member of; to join

   vào hội ― to join the/an association

   vào tù ― to enter prison; to become a prisoner

4. (transitive) to join in, to participate in

   vào tiệc ― to join a party

   vào đám ― to join the crowd

5. (transitive) to begin (a new chapter in time)

   vào năm học mới ― to start a new school year

   vào hè ― to begin one's summer

6. (transitive) to abide by, to conform to

   vào quy củ ― to work according to a methodology

   vào khuôn phép ― to abide by a code of conduct

   Công việc đã vào nền nếp.

   The task has become second nature.

7. (transitive) to attain, to achieve

   Một người thợ vào loại giỏi.

   A worker becomes skilled.

   học vào loại trung bình ― to be average in one's studies

8. (intransitive, figuratively) to comprehend

   Có tập trung tư tưởng thì học [nó] mới vào.

   Only by concentrating one's thoughts does one comprehend one's studies.

   Đầu óc rối bời, đọc mãi mà [nó] không vào.

   With his/her head in such a jumble, he/she keeps reading but [it] doesn't click.

9. (intransitive, soccer) (of a ball) to enter the goal

   Sút! Vào!

   He shoots! He scores! [Shoot! It's in!]

Preposition

vào • (𠓨, 包, 󱚢)

1. in, into, upon

   vào trong ― inside of

   nhìn vào trong nhà ― to look inside the/a house

   quay mặt vào tường ― to turn and look at the wall

   dựa vào ― based upon; to base upon

   hướng vào ― to go into

2. during, on

   vào dịp Tết ― on the occasion of Tet

   vào lúc khó khăn ― during a time of difficulty

Particle

vào • (𠓨, 包, 󱚢)

1. Used at the end of a clause or sentence to ask the listener to do something vigorously.

   Làm nhanh vào!

   Do it quickly!

   Mặc thật ấm vào kẻo lạnh.

   Dress truly warmly or you'll be cold.

2. Used at the end of a clause of sentence, usually after lắm or nhiều, to speak critically or reproachfully about excess, implying obvious bad consequences.

   Chơi lắm vào, bây giờ thi trượt.

   Played so much – now your test scores are falling.

   Ăn kẹo cho lắm vào để bị đau bụng.

   You ate so much candy that you got a stomach ache.

References

• "vào" in Hồ Ngọc Đức, Free Vietnamese Dictionary Project (details)
• Lê Sơn Thanh, "Nom-Viet.dat", WinVNKey (details)