When in Vietnam, although English is widely spoken, especially in the main tourist spots, it wouldn’t hurt to learn a few basic words to help you get by.
Some words here can be helpful for you to discover this beautiful land.
Source: Adventure In You
1. Vietnamese: The Basics
Yes – vang (north) /vung/ , da (south) /za/
No- khong /khome/
Thank you- Cám ơn /gahm un/
I’m sorry- Xin lỗi /seen loy/
Can you help me? Ban giup toi duoc khong? /ban zoop thoy duc khome?/
No problem/you’re welcome Khong co gi /khome koo zi/
Do you speak English? Ban noi tieng Anh duoc khong? /Banh noi thien an durkh khome?/
Where’s the… toilet? toilet o dau? /toilet uah dou'/
2. Basic Greetings in Vietnamese
Hello– Xin chào /sin chow/
Goodbye- Tạm biệt /tam bee it/
How are you? Ban co khoe khong? /ban koo kwe khome?/
3. Basic Vietnamese for Eating and Ordering Food
Phở - Pho /pho/
Bread - bánh mì /banh mee/
Coffee - cà phê /ka fey/
Hot (spicy)- Cay /cay/
How much? Bao nhiêu? /bow neuw?/
4. Basic Numbers
- 1 = Mot /moht/
- 2 = Hai /high/
- 3 = ba /bah/
- 4 = bon /bumh/
- 5 = Nam /nuhm/
- 6 = Sau /sao/
- 7 = Bay /bye/
- 8 = Tam /tahm/
- 9 = Chin cheen/
- 10 = Muoi /meui/
5. Basic Vietnamese phrases for direction (on taxis, buses, airport etc…)
- Where is the taxi rank? = Taxis o dau? /taxis urh dauh?/
- Where is the ATM? = May rut tien ATM o dau? /may root tien ATM urn dole/
- Go Straight = Di Thang /di thaang/
- Go Left = Re Trai /se chai/
- Go Right = Re Phai /se fih/
- Stop = Dung Lai /duhng laai/
- Go to the airport = Di san bay /di sun bay/
- Can I have a map? = cho toi mot cai ban do /chor toi mot cai ban dor/
- How far is it = Bao xa /bao seh/
- Far = Xa /seh/
- Close = Gan /gunh/
- Downtown = Trung Tam thanh pho /trumh tam tan fo/
- District = Quan /wung/
- Station = Ga /gas/
- Bus stop = Tram xe bus /tram seh butt/
- Where? = O dau /uh dow?/
- Wait 5 minutes = Cho nam phut /churhn num foot/
