The Basic Vietnamese Phrases for Easy Travel

Vietnam is a developing country so nowadays there are not only international tourists, students and workers also come here to study, work and seek opportunities to develop themselves. Learning the basic Vietnamese phrases brings you great advantages in understanding our culture, tradition and in facilitating day-to-day communication with the local people. Although the Vietnamese language is not simple because there are quite complicated tones, nevertheless try to learn some simple and short words/phrases below that are used very often in everyday life.

Vietnamese language and writing

1. The Vietnamese language

The Vietnamese language is a monosyllabic, tonal language. In Vietnam now, most people speak the country's official language despite the fact that each region has its own different dialect, especially in remote areas where ethnic minorities live, people speak their "lingual dialect" in daily life, which is totally different from the official language.

The framework of ethnic languages is very rich, comprising five language families:

• Austroasiatic language family: includes two language groups Viet-Muong and Mon-Khmer
• Tai-Kadai language family: includes the Tay-Thai and Kadai groups
• Hmong-Mien language family
• Sino-Tibetan language family: includes the Tibeto-Burmese and Han groups
• Austronesian language family

This explains why some ethnic Tai living on the border with Laos and some Laotians can understand each other because the dialects of ethnic Tai and the Lao language are from the same language family. Linguistic interaction is a fairly widespread thing in South East Asia for both historical and cultural aspects. In the Vietnamese language there are also words derived from the French language with very similar pronunciation, for example 'coffee - cà phê'; 'lancer - lăng xê', 'chemise - sơ mi'.

2. The Vietnamese script

From ancient times, the script used in Vietnam was the ideograms caused by the influence of Chinese domination in the bureaucratic, commercial and educational spheres until the beginning of the 20th century. However, such complicated writing was not suitable for everyone, so from the 8th century onwards, an own method was developed, namely the 'Nom' script, the Vietnamese ideograms.

The Latin script used now was formed by Catholic missionaries in Vietnam at the beginning of the 17th century. Mr Francisco de Pina was the first missionary who spoke fluent Vietnamese and started to develop a method to record Vietnamese using Latin letters. Then the missionary Alexandre de Rhodes systematised and institutionalised the script through the dictionary Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum printed in 1651 in Rome. Other missionaries who contributed to the formation of the script were Francesco Buzomi, Christoforo Borri, Girolamo Maiorica and Antonio de Fontes.

Therefore, despite the difficulty in pronouncing 6 tones, you can read our script easily because we use the Latin script and pronounce it exactly as it is written.

Let's learn Basic Vietnamese Phrases

1. Numbers in Vietnamese

1. Một --> One
2. Hai --> Two
3. Ba --> Three
4. Bốn --> Four
5. Năm --> Five
6. Sáu --> Six
7. Bảy --> Seven
8. Tám --> Eight
9. Chín --> Nine
10. Mười --> Ten

2. Basic Vietnamese phrases for greeting

Xin chào! --> Hello!
Chào buổi sáng! --> Good morning!
Bạn tên là gì? --> What's your name?
Bạn bao nhiêu tuổi? --> How old are you?
Bạn có khoẻ không? --> How are you?
Cảm ơn! --> Thank you!
Xin lỗi! --> Excuse me!
Tạm biệt! --> Goodbye!
Gặp lại sau nhé! --> See you later!
Hẹn sớm gặp lại! --> See you soon! See you soon!
Chúc một ngày tốt lành! --> Have a nice day!

3. Introduce yourself in Vietnamese

Tên tôi là... --> My name is....
Tôi... tuổi --> I am … years old.
Tôi đến từ nước Ý --> I'm from Italy
Tôi là người Singapore --> I'm Singaporean.
Tôi là giáo viên/bác sĩ/kỹ sư/kiến trúc sư... --> I'm a teacher/I'm a doctor/engineer/architect
Tôi thích đọc sách/ bơi lội/ đạp xe/ tập thể thao/ hát/ chơi đàn piano... --> I like reading books/ swimming/ cycling/ exercising/ singing/ playing piano....

4. Directions in Vietnamese

Ở đâu? --> Where?
Ga tàu ở đâu? --> Where is the train station?
Sân bay ở đâu? --> Where is the airport?
Có xa đây không? --> Is it far? 
Có gần đây không?  --> Is it close?
Đi thẳng! --> Go straight!
Rẽ trái! --> Turn left!
Rẽ phải! --> Turn right!
Dừng lại! --> Stop!
Đằng trước --> In front
Đằng sau --> Behind
Ở trên --> Above
Ở dưới --> Below

5. Common Vietnamese phrase in shopping

Cái này bao nhiêu tiền? --> How much is it?
Tôi muốn mua nó! --> I would like to buy this!
Cái này có bán không? --> Is this for sale?
Đắt quá! --> How expensive!
Giảm giá cho tôi được không? --> Can you give me a discount?

6. Simple communication in Vietnamese restaurant

Cho tôi xin menu được không? --> May I see the menu? 
Tôi muốn gọi món! --> I would like to order!
Bạn muốn dùng món nào? --> What will you have?
Đồ ăn --> Dishes
Đồ uống --> Beverages
Ít đường - Không đường --> Less sugar - no sugar
Không đá --> No ice
Thơm quá! --> How fragrant!
Ngon quá! Rất ngon! --> Yummy! Delicious!
Nóng quá! --> So hot!
Lạnh quá! --> So cold!
Tính tiền/ Thanh toán --> Check the bill, please!

7. Useful Vietnamese phrases in an urgent case

Cứu tôi! --> Help me!
Tôi cần giúp đỡ! --> I need help!
Tôi mệt! --> I'm tired!
Tôi đau họng (ho)! --> I have a sore throat (a cough)!
Tôi đau bụng! --> I have a stomachache!
Tôi cần đi bệnh viện! --> I need to go to the hospital!
Cháy! --> Fire!
Tôi bị mất hộ chiếu --> I lost my passport
Tôi bị trộm tiền/ túi --> They stole my money/ purse
Tôi muốn đi vệ sinh--> I'd like to go to the toilet.

Hope that the above basic Vietnamese phrases will help you communicate with local people and travel with more fun. If you want to learn any other phrases, please comment below so that we can share more. Happy travelling!