kết hôn

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 結婚.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ket̚˧˦ hon˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ket̚˦˧˥ hoŋ˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [kəːt̚˦˥ hoŋ˧˧]

Verb

kết hôn

1. (formal) to get married

   Synonym: cưới

Usage notes

• Speakers of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese seem to favor this Sino-Vietnamese word, at least in teaching materials, probably due to the etymological equivalent in their language. Native Vietnamese speakers, on the other hand, highly favor cưới and lấy in spoken contexts instead.

  Vậy chừng nào cưới chồng/vợ? (colloquial)

  So when will you get married?

  Bao giờ thì cậu kết hôn nhỉ? (might be perceived as overly formal)

  So when will you get married?