Edit

Đối thoại - Conversations

Edit

Chào hỏi - Greetings

When Vietnamese greet each other, they will use Chào and the relevant personal pronoun, or the title, or name. Unlike English, they do not distinguish between the times of the day (morning, afternoon, evening).

• A: Chào ông!
• B: Chào bà!

Chào is a term that can be used to greet someone at any time. Ông is the term to address elderly men (aged around 50). Bà is the term to address elderly ladies (aged around 45).

• A: Chào anh!
• B: Chao chị!

Anh is a term to address young men, while chị is to address young women.

• A: Chào cụ ạ.
• B: Chào em.

Cụ is a term to call a very old person. em is a term to call a child, or a younger person. ạ at the end of a sentence indicates respect.

• A: Chào William.
• B: Vâng, chào Nam.

vâng means yes.

• A: Xin chào.
• B: Chào.

This is a simple, yet not very elegant, greeting formula.

• A: Chào ông Tomita.
• B: Chào bà Lee.

Edit

Hơi thăm sức khỏe - Inquiring about health

• A: Ông có khoẻ không?
• B: Cám ơn bà, tôi khoẻ.

khoẻ stands for good or fine, không for not. Adding không at the end of an affirmative sentence is one of the many ways to form a question. Please refer to the grammar part for more details. Cám ơn means thank you.

• A: Anh có khoẻ không?
• B: Cám ơn ông, tôi rất khoẻ. Còn ông?
• A: Tôi cũng rất khoẻ.

rất means very. còn, at this place, means and. cũng stands for also.

• A: Bạn có khoẻ không?
• B: Khoẻ, cám ơn. Còn bạn?
• A: Mình khoẻ, cám ơn bạn.

bạn means friend and takes the place of a personal pronoun here. mình is, next to tôi, a personal pronoun meaning I, it also stands for body.

• A: Chị có khoẻ không?
• B: Cám ơn anh, tôi bình thường. Còn anh?
• A: Tôi vẫn khoẻ.

bình thường means normal. vẫn means still.

Edit

Giới thiệu - Introduction

• A: Chào ông! Tôi là Hoà.
• B: Chào chị! Toi là Jack. Rất vui được gặp chị.

là means to be. vui means glad, gặp stands for meet and được for can, may.

• A: Nam, đây là Jack, bạn tôi.
• B: Chào anh Jack. Rất vui được gặp anh.

đây means this, here. bạn tôi means my friend.

• A: Chào, mình tên A. Bạn tên gì?

• B: Mình tên là B.
• A: Rất vui được gặp bạn.

• B: Mình cũng vậy. .

Edit

Tạm biệt - Saying good bye

• A: Tạm biệt ông.
• B: Tạm biệt bà.

Tạm biệt is the most common formula for saying good-bye in Vietnamese.

• A: Tạm biệt anh.
• B: Chào Jack!

Also chào can have this meaning.

Edit

Expressions

Edit

Vocabulary

• ạ - a particle at the end of the sentence to express respect
• anh - you, Mr. (to address a young man)
• bà - Madam, you, Mrs. (used to address an elderly woman)
• bạn - friend, you
• bình thường - normal
• cám ơn - thank you
• chào - Hello (most common greeting formula)
• chị - you, Mrs., Miss (used to address a young woman)
• còn - and
• cụ - you, Sir, Madam, Mr., Mrs. (used to address very old persons)
• cũng - also
• đây - this, here
• được - can, may
• gặp - meet
• khoẻ - good
• không - not
• là - to be
• mình - body, I
• ông - Sir, you, Mr. (to address an elderly man)
• rất - very
• vẫn - still
• vui - glad
• xin chào - Hello (simple greeting formula)

Edit

Grammar

Edit

Personal pronouns

In this lesson, we have learned a number of personal pronouns. In Vietnamese, personal pronouns can be used as subjects or objects but, unlike English, they never change their forms.

Usage, however, is fundamentally different. There is not simply a word meaning you, but Vietnamese actually use different pronouns depending on the relation between the speaker and his/her audience. This relation takes gender, age, and status into account. Basically, Vietnamese refer to everyone as a family member.

Here are the personal pronouns we have encountered so far:

• tôi and mình: I
• ông: literally grandfather, old man, a formal way to address a male who is older than the speaker
• bà: literally grandmother, old lady, a formal way to address a female who is older than the speaker
• anh: literally brother, a formal way to address a male who is the same age as the speaker
• chị: literally sister, a formal way to address a female who is the same age as or older than the speaker
• em: literally younger sister or younger brother to address a female who is the same age as the speaker, or to a person (of either gender) who is younger than the speaker (such as a child)
• bạn: literally friend, an informal, but not casual way to address familiar people.

For more, go to the grammar section directly: Personal pronouns.

Edit

Sentence structure

The basic Vietnamese sentence structure consists of a subject and a predicate.

Subject	Predicate
Nam	gặp Jack.
Tôi	cũng khoẻ.
Tôi	là Hoà.