Greetings and politeness in Vietnamese
Hello, please, thank you, sorry: the ten openers everything else builds on. Play the ten Vietnamese words against the clock, with a note on how locals really use each one after every answer. All ten are written out below.
All 11 Vietnamese phrases in this lesson
- Xin chàosin CHOW
- Hello
- Chào buổi sángchow bwoy SHANG
- Good morning
- Chào buổi tốichow bwoy TOY
- Good evening
- Tạm biệttahm BYET
- Goodbye
- Gặp lại saugap lai SAU
- See you
- Làm ơnlahm UHN
- Please
- Cảm ơngahm UHN
- Thank you
- Không có gìkhong koh ZEE
- You're welcome
- Xin lỗisin LOY
- Sorry
- Cho tôi hỏicho toy HOY
- Excuse me
- Rất vui được gặp bạnruht VOO-ee duhk gap BAHN
- Nice to meet you
The polite greeting for strangers and professional contexts. Locals shorten it to just "chào" (chow) with friends, usually followed by a pronoun: "chào anh" to a man, "chào chị" to a woman.
Correct but bookish: most people just say "chào" at any hour. Vietnamese splits the day into buổi sáng (morning), buổi trưa (midday), buổi chiều (afternoon) and buổi tối (evening).
Literally "hello, evening". Like good morning, it is heard more in hotels and on TV than on the street, where plain "chào" covers the whole day.
The formal goodbye, for longer partings. Day to day people say "chào" again or "hẹn gặp lại" (hen gap LAI), see you again.
Literally "meet again later". Friends also say bai bai. Tạm biệt is the standard goodbye.
Used when asking a favor: "làm ơn giúp tôi" (please help me). When ordering, people skip it and say "cho tôi" (give me) with a friendly tone instead.
The workhorse, used after every cafe order and every small transaction. "Cảm ơn nhiều" (gahm UHN nyew) is thank you very much. Southerners often write and say "cám ơn".
Literally "there is nothing", meaning it was nothing at all. A relaxed "không sao" (khong SOW), no problem, works too.
The apology, for bumping into someone or being late. Xin lỗi can also get attention, but Vietnamese prefers a different phrase for that, so this course keeps them apart.
Literally "let me ask", the polite opener before a question to a stranger. To get past someone, say "cho tôi qua" (cho toy KWAH). To call a waiter, people say "em ơi" (em UH-ee), hey younger one.
Literally "very happy to get to meet you". Swap bạn for anh (to a man) or chị (to a woman) when speaking to someone older.