The Vietnamese Alphabet

The Vietnamese alphabet has 29 letters: no f, j, w or z, but seven extra letters (ă, â, đ, ê, ô, ơ, ư). Five tone marks on the vowels give the six tones. Tap any letter to hear its name in Vietnamese.

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All 29 letters

Tap any letter to hear its name in Vietnamese.

a say “ah” a as in “father”
Ă ă á say “ah (rising tone)” a short, clipped “ah”
Â â ớ say “uh (rising tone)” a short “uh”, as in “but”
bê say “bay” b as in “bed”
xê say “say” k as in “skip” (no puff of air); written k before e, ê, i, y
dê say “zay” z as in “zoo” in Hanoi; y as in “yes” in the South
đê say “day” d as in “dog”, with a slightly “swallowed”, voiced pop
e say “eh” an open e, between “bed” and “bad”
ê say “ay” a closed e, like the “ay” in “say” without the y-glide
giê say “zay” a soft g made in the throat (gh before e, ê, i); gi = z in Hanoi
hát say “haht” h as in “hat”
i ngắn say “ee ngahn” ee as in “see”
ca say “kah” k as in “skip”; used before e, ê, i, y (c everywhere else)
e-lờ say “eh-luh” l as in “let”
em-mờ say “em-muh” m as in “man”
en-nờ say “en-nuh” n as in “no”
o say “aw” an open o, like the “aw” in British “law”
ô say “oh” a short, pure o (no “oh-oo” glide)
ơ say “uh” a long “uh”, like the u in “fur” without the r
pê say “pay” p as in “spin”; mostly at the end of a syllable (ph = f)
quy say “kwee” always in qu = kw, as in “quick”
e-rờ say “eh-zuh” z as in “zoo” in Hanoi; an r in the South
ét-xì say “et-see” s as in “sun”
tê say “tay” t as in “stop” (no puff of air)
u say “oo” oo as in “food”
ư say “oo (lips spread)” “oo” said with the lips spread, as if smiling (no English equivalent)
vê say “vay” v as in “van”
ích-xì say “ik-see” s as in “sun”
i dài say “ee zai” ee as in “see”, the same as i

7 letters that sound different for English speakers

Not a d: z in Hanoi (y in the South) da · leather
The crossed đ is the real d đêm · night
Named “xê”, but it always sounds k có · have
Not ks: a plain s xoài · mango
z in Hanoi, an r in the South rừng · forest
oo with spread lips: no English equivalent sữa · milk
Not an o: a long “uh”, as in “fur” (no r) mới · new

The 6 tones and common letter pairs

Tone / letters	Example	How it sounds
a (ngang)		Level tone, no mark: flat and fairly high
à (huyền)		Falling tone: starts low and drops gently
á (sắc)		Rising tone: starts mid and rises sharply
ả (hỏi)		Dipping tone: dips low, then rises a little
ã (ngã)		Broken rising tone: rises with a catch in the throat
ạ (nặng)		Heavy tone: low, short and cut off in the throat
ph · th · kh		ph = f; th = t with a puff of air; kh = ch as in Scottish “loch”
ng · ngh · nh		ng = the ng of “sing”, even at the start of a word (ngh before e, ê, i); nh = ny as in “canyon”

A word for every letter

Each letter below has its name and a real word from the Flashcardly course (starting with the letter where one exists), with a picture and native audio.