Guide to Vietnamese Pronunciation
Like Chinese and Thai, Vietnamese is a tonal language where no word is conjugated. The Vietnamese alphabet has 29 letters:
a, aê, aâ, b, c, d, ñ, e, eâ, g, h, i, k, l, m, n, o, oâ, ô, p, q, r, s, t, u, ö, v, x, y.
The Vietnamese consonants are written as single letters or a cluster of two or three letters, as follows:
b, c, ch, d, ñ, g, gh, gi, h, k, kh, l, m, n, ng, ngh, nh, p, ph, qu, r, s, t, th, tr, v, x.
The vowels in Vietnamese are the following: a, aê, aâ, e, eâ, i/y, o, oâ, ô, u, ö. Vowels can also be grouped together to form a cluster or a word.
The following charts show the vowels and consonants in Vietnamese pronunciation with their English equivalents.
Vowels
| Vietnamese | English | Example | Meaning |
| a | father | ba | three |
| aê | hat | aê | to eat |
| aâ | but | aâm | sound |
| e | bet | em | younger brother/sister |
| eâ | may | ñeâ m | night |
| i/y | me | kim | needle |
| o | law | lo | to worry |
| oâ | no | coâ | aunt |
| ô | fur | bô | butter |
| u | too | ngu | stupid |
| ö | wh-wh | thö | letter |
Consonants
| Vietnamese | English | Example | Meaning |
| b | book | buù t | pen |
| c, k, q | can | caù | fish |
| kem | ice-cream | ||
| quyù | precious | ||
| ch | chore | cho | to give |
| d, gi | zero | da | skin |
| gì | what | ||
| ñ | do | ñi | to go |
| g/gh | go | ga | railway station |
| ghe | boat | ||
| h | hat | hai | two |
| kh | (no real English equivalent) | khoâng | no |
| l | lot | laø | to do |
| m | me; him | mai | tomorrow |
| n | not; in | nam | south |
| ng/ngh | singer | ngon | delicious |
| nghe | to hear | ||
| nh | canyon | nho | grape |
| ph | phone | phaûi | right |
| r | run | ra | to go out |
| s | show | söõa | milk |
| t | top | toát | good |
| th | thin | thaêm | to visit |
| tr | entry | treân | on/ above |
| v | very | vaø | and |
| x | see | xa | far |
Tones
The standard Vietnamese language has six tones. Each tone is a meaningful and integral part of the syllable. Every syllable must have a tone. The tones are indicated in conventional Vietnamese spelling by diacritic marks placed over (aù, aø, aû, aõ) or under (aï) single vowels or the vowel in a cluster that bears the main stress (v).
| Vietnamese | Tone mark | Description | Example | Meaning |
| Khoâ ng daáu (no) | o | Voice starts at middle of normal speaking range and remains at that level | maø | ghost |
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