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Vietnamese Greetings: Xin Chào and Choosing the Right Pronoun

Vietnamese greetings in practice: why xin chào sounds formal, chào plus a kinship term, dạ and vâng, cảm ơn, xin lỗi, and goodbyes beyond tạm biệt.

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Key takeaways

  • Wiktionary describes xin chào as rather artificial as a greeting and often used as a direct translation of 'hello'.
  • Everyday greetings use chào followed by a kinship term: chào anh, chào chị, chào em, chào bác.
  • Chào works for both hello and goodbye; Wiktionary notes tạm biệt is almost never used in conversation.
  • Dạ is a polite 'yes' and an opener of respect; vâng is the northern polite 'yes'.
  • Cảm ơn is the standard written 'thank you', while Wiktionary notes cám ơn remains the predominant spoken form in many areas.

Xin chào is the usual direct translation of "hello", but Wiktionary's usage notes say it is not how everyday greetings are normally made. Everyday greetings are built from chào plus a word that places the other person relative to you, which means a greeting is also a choice of pronoun. This guide covers hellos, the polite yes, thanks, apologies and goodbyes, with notes from Wiktionary on how each is actually used. Words are written in standard Vietnamese spelling with tone marks; see Vietnamese tones explained for what the marks do.

Why xin chào sounds like a textbook

Wiktionary breaks xin chào into xin, "to ask for", and chào, "to greet", and says it appears to be a modern coinage, not attested in pre-modern documents. Its usage note is blunt: the phrase is rather artificial as a greeting, often used as a direct translation of English "hello", and very common in interface labels. In formal settings speakers say kính chào; newsreaders and television hosts often use the softer xin kính chào. On the phone, Wiktionary adds, the default greeting is a-lô.

So xin chào is safe but slightly stiff. For daily use, learn the pattern below.

Chào plus a kinship term: the everyday hello

Wiktionary states that everyday greetings use chào followed by a kinship term. Which term depends on the person, and Wikipedia's article on Vietnamese pronouns sets out the common ones used for people who are not relatives:

Greeting Say it to Literal sense of the term
chào anh a man a little older than you older brother
chào chị a woman a little older than you older sister
chào em someone a little younger younger sibling
chào cô a woman a little younger than your parents; a female teacher father's younger sister
chào chú a man a little younger than your parents father's younger brother
chào bác someone a little older than your parents parent's older sibling
chào ông, chào bà an old man, an old woman grandfather, grandmother

Wikipedia notes that in formal contexts only a few terms are used, based on how young or old the stranger appears, and that the plural marker các makes a group: các anh. For an audience, terms are strung together, as in các anh chị em, or quý vị, "esteemed guests", which appears in Wiktionary's formal greeting Xin kính chào quý vị và các bạn. The logic behind these choices is covered in Vietnamese pronouns explained.

A worked example: four greetings, four relationships

Imagine you are 25 and greet four people in turn.

  1. A 30-year-old man: Chào anh. He is a little older, so he is anh.
  2. A 20-year-old woman: Chào em. She is younger, so she is em.
  3. Your friend's 55-year-old father: Chào bác. He is a little older than your own parents might be, the use Wikipedia gives for bác.
  4. An 80-year-old woman: Cháu chào bà. Wikipedia notes that a young speaker addressing a very old person generally uses ông or bà for them and cháu or con for themselves.

Wiktionary's own example has the same shape: (Cháu) chào chú (ạ), where the speaker names themselves cháu, greets the listener as chú, and may add a polite ạ at the end. The 30, 20, 55 and 80 are illustrations; in real life the choice is a judgement about relative age, and Wikipedia notes it may be made by asking or by guesswork.

Dạ and vâng: answering politely

Wiktionary lists dạ as a "yes" that answers a question and as an initial particle that expresses politeness and respect. It also works as "yes?" when someone calls you, and as a sign that you are listening. Vâng is labelled northern and polite. They combine in Dạ vâng, which Wiktionary glosses "Yes, Sir / Yes, Madam". Regional differences like this one are covered in northern vs southern Vietnamese.

Cảm ơn or cám ơn, and xin lỗi

"Thank you" has two spellings. Wiktionary records that cảm ơn was adopted as the standard form in a 1992 dictionary from Hanoi's Institute of Linguistics, but that cám ơn remains the predominant spoken form, especially among Central and Southern speakers, if not nationwide. Either is understood.

Xin lỗi, literally "to beg for one's mistake", covers both "I'm sorry" and the polite "excuse me" before a question: Xin lỗi, cho hỏi đây có phải là nhà anh Tiến không ạ?, "Excuse me, is this Mr Tiến's address?". For "I'm sorry" in the sense of "sorry about your loss" or "sorry for the inconvenience", Wiktionary notes that translators may use rất tiếc, "that's a pity", as in Rất tiếc, chúng tôi hết phòng đôi rồi ạ, "I'm sorry, we have run out of twin rooms".

Goodbyes: chào again, not tạm biệt

Wiktionary notes that chào means both "hello" and "goodbye", and its example Chào mọi người! can mean "Hello, everybody!" or "Bye, everybody!". The phrasebook goodbye tạm biệt is, in Wiktionary's words, almost never used in conversation; it is mostly seen in translations and in language teaching. Everyday alternatives are chào or bai, preferably with the final particles nhé or nha.

The same caution applies to hẹn gặp lại, "see you later", which Wiktionary describes as more a translation of the English phrase than a natural Vietnamese one. It suggests gặp lại sau nhé or simply sau nhé.

Practising greetings in the app

Learn Vietnamese Language Fast groups vocabulary by topic, including greetings and introductions, and its grammar lessons cover pronouns and forms of address. It is one of our language-learning apps. For where greetings fit into a first month, see learn Vietnamese for beginners.

Good to know

Frequently asked questions

Is xin chào formal or casual?
Neither, quite. Wiktionary describes xin chào as rather artificial as a greeting, often used as a direct translation of 'hello' and common in interface labels. Formal contexts use kính chào or xin kính chào, and everyday greetings use chào followed by a kinship term.
How do you greet someone older in Vietnamese?
Use chào with the kinship term that fits their age, and call yourself by the matching term. Wikipedia notes that a young speaker addressing a very old person generally uses ông or bà for them and cháu or con for themselves, as in Cháu chào ông.
How do you say goodbye in everyday Vietnamese?
Usually with chào, which covers both hello and goodbye, or bai, often softened with nhé or nha. Wiktionary notes that tạm biệt is almost never used in conversation and is mostly seen in translations and language teaching.
What is the difference between dạ and vâng?
Both are polite ways to say yes. Wiktionary labels vâng as northern and polite, and lists dạ as a yes that answers a question and as an initial particle expressing politeness and respect, as in Dạ vâng, 'Yes, Sir' or 'Yes, Madam'.

Sources

  1. xin chào (opens in a new tab)Wiktionary — accessed
  2. chào (opens in a new tab)Wiktionary — accessed
  3. tạm biệt (opens in a new tab)Wiktionary — accessed
  4. dạ (opens in a new tab)Wiktionary — accessed
  5. vâng (opens in a new tab)Wiktionary — accessed
  6. cảm ơn (opens in a new tab)Wiktionary — accessed
  7. xin lỗi (opens in a new tab)Wiktionary — accessed
  8. hẹn gặp lại (opens in a new tab)Wiktionary — accessed
  9. Vietnamese pronouns (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia — accessed

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