Basic Vietnamese

Tones

Vietnamese utilizes a system of six distinct tones, each represented by a unique diacritical mark. The meaning of the word "ma" can vary significantly based on the tone used, resulting in translations such as ghost, mother, which/but, tomb, horse, or rice seedling. The six tones are as follows:

• Mid tone: produced at the mid-range of your voice without a tone mark. (ma = ghost)
• High-rising tone: starts high and rises sharply. (má = mother)
• Low-falling tone: starts low and falls lower. (mà = but)
• Low-rising tone: starts low, dips lower, then rises sharply. (mả = tomb)
• High-broken tone: begins above the middle range, dips, then rises sharply. (mã = horse)
• Low-broken tone: starts low and falls sharply. (mạ = rice seedling)

Vietnamese Alphabet

a   ă   â   b   c   d   đ   e   ê   g   h   i   k   l   m   n   o   ô   ơ   p   q   r   s   t   u   ư   v   x   y

Pronunciation

a- pronounced like "a" in "part"    
ă- pronounced like "u" in "cup"    
â- pronounced similarly to "â" in "sad"    
b- pronounced like "b"    
c,k- pronounced like "k"    
d- pronounced like "z" in "zero"    
đ- pronounced like "d"    
e- pronounced like "e" in "lend"    
ê- pronounced like "ai" in "plain"    
g- pronounced like "g" in "gain"    
h- pronounced like "h" in "house"    
i,y- pronounced like "e" in "me"    
l- pronounced like "l" in "live"    
m- pronounced like "m"    
n- pronounced like "n"    
o- pronounced like "o" in "core"    
ô- pronounced like "oh"    
ơ- pronounced similarly to "u" in "hurt"    
p- pronounced like "p"    
qu- pronounced like "kw"    
r- pronounced like "r" in "really"    
s- pronounced like "sh" in "she"    
t- pronounced like "t" in "total"    
u- pronounced like "oo" in "cool"    
ư- pronounced like "u" in "purr"    
v- pronounced like "v"    
x- pronounced like "s" in "so"

Others

gi- pronounced like "z" in "zebra" or "y" in "yes" (regional variations apply)
ng- pronounced like "nga" in "long ago"     
nh- pronounced similarly to "n" in "opinion"               
ph- pronounced like "f"    
tr- pronounced like "ch" in "cheese" in the north, or "tr" in "tree" in the south    
th- pronounced like "th" in "thanks"        
ch- pronounced like "ch" in "chew"