Lesson 12: Basic greetings in Vietnamese

Summary: How to say Hello in Vietnamese? How to greet people and start conversations in Vietnamese? Let’s find out now to continue your Learn Vietnamese 30 Days.

Note:

• If this is the first time you’re here, I recommend you read the instruction and start learning how to spell Vietnamese first.
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1. How to say Hello in Vietnamese

Xin chào/ Chào

Cảm ơn [pronoun]/
Cảm ơn

Không có chi

Tạm biệt/Bái bai

Hẹn gặp lại

Khoẻ

Có

Không

Và

2. Positive and negative sentence in Vietnamese

2.1. Positive sentence in Vietnamese

With Adjective

Vietnamese:	[Pronoun]	+	[adjective]
	1		2
English:	[I/you/etc.]	+	[am/are/is]	+	[adjective]
	1				2

Note: Adjective in Vietnamese doesn’t need to go with a verb like English. The word-by-word translation of “Tôi khoẻ” is “I good”. It’s grammatically correct in Vietnamese.

With Verb

Vietnamese:	[Pronoun]	+	[verb]
	1		2
English:	[I/you/etc.]	+	[am/are/is]	+	[verb]
	1				2

Note: Verb and Adjective act similarly in Vietnamese.

2.2. Negative sentence in Vietnamese

With Adjective

Vietnamese:	[Pronoun]	+	không	+	[adjective]
	1		2		3
English:	[I/you/etc.]	+	[am/are/is]	+	not	+	[adjective]
	1				2		3

With Verb

Vietnamese:	[Pronoun]	+	không	+	[verb]
	1		2		3
English:	[I/you/etc.]	+	[am/are/is]	+	not	+	[verb]
	1				2		3

Example:

Vietnamese	English
Tôi khoẻ.	I’m good.
Chị ấy khỏe.	She’s good.
Tôi không khoẻ.	I’m not good.
Chú ấy không khỏe.	He is not good.

Quiz 1: How does Vũ tell Duy that he’s good in Vietnamese?

Quiz 2: How does Duy tell Vũ that he’s not good in Vietnamese?

3. How to say “How are you?” in Vietnamese?

3.1. Yes-No Question structure

With Adjective

Vietnamese:	[Pronoun]	+	có	+	[adjective]	+	không?
	1				2
English:	[am/are/is]	+	[I/you/etc.]	+	[adjective]?
			1		2

With Verb

Vietnamese:	[Pronoun]	+	có	+	[verb]	+	không?
	1				2
English:	[am/are/is]	+	[I/you/etc.]	+	[verb]?
			1		2

So, in general, to make a yes-no question in Vietnamese, you just say “Someone + có + action/feeling + không?”

3.2. How are you in Vietnames

As you learned that “khỏe” means “good/well” in Vietnamese, how are you in Vietnamese is:

Vietnamese	English
[Pronoun] + có + khỏe + không?	How [am/are/is] [I/ you/ he/ etc.]? (Word-for-word translation: Are you good?)
⇒ Có, [pronoun] + khỏe. ⇒ Không, [pronoun] + không + khỏe.	⇒ [I/you/etc.] + [am/are/is] + good. ⇒ [I/you/etc.] + [am/are/is] + not + good.

Example:

Vietnamese	English
Bạn có khoẻ không? ⇒ Có. Tôi khoẻ.	How are you? (Are you good?) ⇒ I’m good.
Chú có khoẻ không? ⇒ Không. Chú không khoẻ.	How are you? (Are you good?) ⇒ I’m not good.
Andy có khoẻ không? ⇒ Có. Anh ấy khoẻ.	How is Andy? (Is Andy good?) ⇒ He’s good.
Bạn và Andy có khỏe không? ⇒ Không. Chúng tôi không khỏe.	How are you and Andy? (Are you good?) ⇒ We’re not good.

Quiz 3: Choose the correct response for Thao in this conversation.

• Hà: Chào Thảo, bà Vân có khỏe không?
• Thảo: [...] . Cảm ơn Hà!

4. Dialog

	Vietnamese	English
Andy	Xin chào Min. Bạn có khỏe không?	Hi, Min. How are you?
Min	Chào Andy. Có, tôi khỏe. Cảm ơn bạn. Bạn có khoẻ không?	Hi, Andy. I’m good, thank you. How are you?
Andy	Có, tôi khỏe. Cảm ơn bạn!	I’m good, too. Thank you!
Min	Tạm biệt. Hẹn gặp lại!	Goodbye. See you again!
Min	Bái bai. Hẹn gặp lại!	Bye. See you again!

	Vietnamese	English
Phong	Xin chào cô Suki. Cô có khỏe không?	Hi, Suki. How are you?
Suki	Chào Phong. Có, cô khỏe. Cảm ơn em. Em có khoẻ không?	Hi, Phong. I’m good, thank you. How are you?
Phong	Có, em khỏe. Cảm ơn cô!	I’m good, too. Thank you!
Suki	Không có chi. Tạm biệt và hẹn gặp lại!	You’re welcome. Goodbye and see you later!
Phong	Tạm biệt cô. Hẹn gặp lại!	Bye. See you again!

	Vietnamese	English
Nam	Xin chào cô Vân. Cô có khỏe không?	Hi, Mrs. Van. How are you?
Vân	Chào Nam và Linh. Không, cô không khỏe. Các con có khoẻ không?	Hi, Nam and Linh. I’m not good. How are you?
Nam	Có, chúng con khỏe. Cảm ơn cô!	We’re good, too. Thank you!
Vân	Không có chi. Tạm biệt các con. Hẹn gặp lại!	You’re welcome. Goodbye. See you again!
Nam	Tạm biệt cô. Hẹn gặp lại!	Bye. See you again!

Well-done my friends! You started your very first conversation in Vietnamese. In the next lesson, we will learn more how to ask what’s your name in Vietnamse and how to tell people your name.

Tạm biệt và hẹn gặp lại!