ông ấy
[ʔəwŋ͡m˧˧ ʔəj˧˦]
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
(pronoun) he (older or respected man)
Pronoun
Where it’s used:
Used
Miền Bắc · Northern Vietnam
• Wiktionary labels this sense “Northern”
Examples
Ông ấy dạy văn ở trường làng ba mươi năm.He taught literature at the village school for thirty years.
Editorial example (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Imported from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); community review pending. source ↗
Equivalents & related
Same meaning · other region
ổng
He, him — the Southern spoken contraction of ông ấy.
Tiếng Việt
Same meaning · other region
ông í
He (personal pronoun).
Tiếng Việt · via ổng
Lighter cards are two steps away in the meaning graph — equivalents of equivalents, reached via the entry shown on the card.
Common questions
What does “ông ấy” mean?
(pronoun) he (older or respected man)
Is “ông ấy” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
What is the closest equivalent?
“ổng” (Tiếng Việt) — same meaning · other region.