Vietnamese personal pronouns
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Sign up for freeVietnamese is a language that differs a lot from most languages. It does not have the regular set of personal pronouns but we will call it like that for you to understand what we are referring to. It is very important to know how to address people in a respectful manner. That means personal pronouns change dependent on the age, gender and level of respect you have towards the other person. It is very common to refer to one another in familiar terms such as "big brother" or "uncle". For example, if you talk to someone that is about your generation but a bit older than you, you refer to them as "anh" for "older brother" and "chị" for "older sister". If the other person is a lot older than you, i.e. your parents' generation but younger than your parents, you call them "chú" for "younger uncle" and "co" for "younger aunt".
Lesson outline
HideThe personal pronouns
In the lessons before, we used 'tôi' and 'bạn' to refer to 'I' and 'you'. These expressions are not commonly used and sound rather awkward as the relationship is not clear in the conversation. For foreigners however, it is an acceptable way to address each other though.
| English | Vietnamese |
|---|---|
| I | tôi |
| you | bạn |
| he | anh ấy |
| she | cô ấy |
| it | nó |
| we | chúng tôi |
| they | họ |
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Quynh C.
Tra My T.
毅華 林. 
How to address a person: you and I in Vietnamese
Tớ + cậu
How to address one another in a very friendly way:
| English | Vietnamese | When |
|---|---|---|
| I | tớ | sweet form of addressing oneself; common between friends in school; more common between girl friends |
| mình | slightly more humble and honest form of addressing to oneself | |
| you | cậu | goes together with tớ/mình |
Tao + mày
How to address one another in a very impolite manner:
| English | Vietnamese | When |
|---|---|---|
| I | tao | during a fight; very rude; when you look down on someone; 'bad parents' would use this word to talk to their children; also common between friends; more common between guy friends than girl friends |
| you | mày | goes together with tao |
Anh/chị + tôi
How to address one another in a more respectful way:
| English | Vietnamese | When |
|---|---|---|
| I | tôi | adults use it (in-laws, neighbours, strangers, colleauges), when real age is not known or inconvenient to ask about the age |
| You | anh chị | respectful way to address another adult; anh for male persons and chị for female; used in official settings (letters, government forms) |
| bạn | very friendly, only used persons your own age or younger since the literal meaing is 'friend' |
Family in Vietnamese
This is a table with the most common personal pronouns in the Vietnamese language. You have to note here that the "I" and "you" are interchangeable. That means if you talk to your father, you use "con" for "I" and "bố" for "you". Your father however, uses "bố" for "I" and "con" for "you".
| I | Literal translation | You | Literal translation | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| con | child | bố | father | only with your own father |
| con | child | mẹ | mother | only with your own mother |
| em | younger sister/brother | anh | older brother | for your older brothers, older cousins and any male person that is older than you but in the same generation |
| em | younger sister/brother | chị | older sister | for your older sisters/cousins and any female person that is older than you but in the same generation |
| anh/chị | older sibling | em | younger sibling | for younger siblings and anyone that is younger than you but still the same generation |
| bố,mẹ, bà, etc. | biological father, mother, grandmother, etc. | con | biological child or grandchild | for a young child that is at least one generation younger than yours |
| ông, bà, bác, chú, etc. | grandfather, - mother, uncle/aunt | cháu | grandchild, niece/ nephew, cousin of junior generations | for a young child; a person at least one generation younger |
| cháu/con | grandchild | ông nội ông ngoại | middle aged man | for the paternal grandfather for the maternal grandfather |
| cháu/con | grandchild | bà nội bà ngoại | middle aged woman | for the paternal grandmother for the maternal grandmother |
| cháu/con | grandchild | ông, bà | middle aged man and woman | for someone that is signigicantly older than you, about two generations older; same generation like your grandparents |
| cháu | niece/nephew | cô | father's younger sister | for those aunts that are younger than your father and women the same generation like your parents but younger than them |
| cháu | niece/nephew | chú | father's younger brother | for those uncles that are younger than your father and men the same generation as your parents but younger than them |
| cháu | niece/nephew | thím | aunt-in-law | for chú's wife |
| cháu | niece/nephew | bác | parent's older sibling | any sibling that is older than your parents or random person that is older but still the same generation |
| cháu | niece/nephew | dì | mother's younger sister; stepmother | |
| cháu | niece/nephew | cậu | mother's younger brother | |
| cháu | niece/nephew | mợ | aunt-in-law | for cậu's wife |
| cháu | niece/nephew | dượng | uncle-in-law, stepfather | for cô's and dì's husband |
| cháu | great-grandchild | cụ/cố | very old person | for a person that is one generation older than your grandparents = great-grandparents |
| cháu | great-great-grandchild | sơ | very very old person | for your great-great-grandparents |
Summary
Although this all might look intimidating and rather difficult, don't let this stop you from learning Vietnamese. Trust me when I say that even Vietnamese natives struggle with this, especially children. That is due to the large families and your "uncle" might be even younger than you since the youngest and oldest sibling could be many years apart.