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của. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
của, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
của in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
của you have here. The definition of the word
của will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
của, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Vietnamese
Etymology
For similar grammaticalisations, compare Thai ของ (kɔ̌ɔng), Khmer របស់ (rɔbɑh).
The usage of this word as possessive marker is recent, as even texts as late as early 19th century show của being used exclusively as a noun meaning "belongings, property".
There are no clear evidence if this is a non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of 具 (MC gjuH) (SV: cụ) or 貨 (MC xwaH) (SV: hoá), neither of which is straightforwardly connectable to the Vietnamese word.
Pronunciation
Noun
của • (古, 𧵑)
- property; belongings
- hôi của ― to loot
- nhà có của ― a house with properties
- given kind of food
- (colloquial) such trash; such a good-for-nothing
Derived terms
Preposition
của • (古, 𧵑)
- of (belonging to or associated with)
Trả đây ! Cái đó của tao !- Give it back! It's mine!
Usage notes
- Possession is not required to be explicitly marked. For example, mặt tôi (“my face”), lớp nó (“his class”), nhà Hải (“Hải's family”), giám đốc công ti (“the director of the company”) are all acceptable and commonly used. However, when there is an adjective or classifier accompanying the noun (phrase), của is almost always present: ngày đầu tiên của năm (“the first day of the year”) (with đầu tiên being an adjective; compare the synonymous phrase ngày đầu năm without của, which can be analyzed as ngày đầu + năm, consisting of a compound noun and a simple noun, without any modifier).