Terry
Addressing people in shops in Vietnam

All the Vietnamese pronouns are confusing me. When I go into a shop or restaurant, do I have to consider our ages and sexes and refer to the shop keeper and myself with the correct pronouns? Or, is it safe to just refer to myself as tôi and the shopkeeper as bạn?

Jul 2, 2015 2:42 AM
Comments · 5
3

Yes, it is safe to do so :D

It is also safe for you to call a male shop keeper "Anh" and a female shop keeper "Chị" if they are around your age.

If he or she is much younger than you, it is safe to call them "Em" for both male and female.

In any case, it is better to politically call them "Anh/Chị" until he or she (may ask your age) tells you how to call them, then.. way to go :D

"Tôi" is safely used to refer to yourself in most of the cases if you can't speak much Vietnamese. Goodluck :D

July 2, 2015
1

Yes, it is safe to refer to yourself as Tôi and to call anyone Bạn. Using different pronouns doesn't change the meaning of anything and people know you are still learning so no one will be offended.

I go to a Vietnamese restaurant and the waiter, clearly about 4 years older than me, calls me Anh. He knows I'm younger, but he's being polite. Normally, Vietnamese people immediately change to the correct pronouns once they know eachother's age.

July 2, 2015
1

"Bạn", which litterally means "friend", works best when he or she is younger than you or the same with you, if they are older than you then you can call them "Anh/Chị".

If they are much older than you, you can call them "Ông" for male or "Bà" for female.

July 2, 2015
Tôi and Bạn(the same age)/Anh (older man)/Chị (oder wormen) is the popular way to talk. Vietnamese pronouns is quite complicated, it is not easy to understand. But it is very important in communication culture , special in relative relationship.
October 9, 2016

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July 2, 2015