Vietnamese Phrases: Making Friends

Greetings and introductions

Vietnamese people love to talk to travellers, and the first exchange follows a familiar pattern: greeting, name, country, age, family. This chapter is part of the free phrasebook, and works best after basic phrases, which explain anh, chị and em.

Where you’re from

Say Tôi đến từ followed by the country, as in tôi đến từ Úc. “England” and “the UK” both come out as nước Anh.

Age

Asking someone’s age in Vietnam is normal and polite. To speak politely a Vietnamese person needs to know whether you are older or younger, because that decides which of anh, chị or em they use. Seniority also carries respect, so being older is no embarrassment.

If you know the person’s age group, you can ask more politely with anh, chị or em instead of bạn: chị bao nhiêu tuổi?

Money

The same logic makes a question about salary routine in Vietnam. If you don’t want to say, change the subject with a smile. The person asking has no idea it could feel intrusive.

Family

The family is at the centre of life in Vietnam. People are delighted if you ask about theirs and eager to hear about yours, and they love meeting travelling families.

The original phrasebook used vâng for yes. That is the northern or formal word; in the south, dạ (or dạ có, yes I do) is what you will hear.

Marriage and relationships

People in Vietnam tend to marry younger than in much of the West, and living together before marriage is less common, so people may assume you are married, or ask why not, especially if you are over about 25. Bạn trai and bạn gái (boyfriend, girlfriend) suggest something casual. In rural and traditional areas, travellers in a long relationship often find saying “wife” or “husband” avoids a long conversation.

Bạn kết hôn chưa? is a standard question, and chưa (not yet) is the polite answer if you’re not: chưa, chưa ạ.

Where to next

Next is numbers, times and dates, useful for the age question above. Or return to the phrasebook hub.