Vietnamese Grammar Bank

VIETNAMESE PRONOUNS

Vietnamese and English both have singular pronouns and plural pronouns.

However, Vietnamese pronouns are also classified according to the gender and positions of the 1st person (speaker) and the 2nd person (listener), which differs from English. 

SINGULAR PRONOUNS || INTRODUCTION

First of all, have a look at this table summarising all the Vietnamese Singular Pronouns.

Don’t worry! We will analyse them all in the next chapters, and give you sentence examples along the way to show them in context.

Singular Pronouns 
Gender1st (I)2nd (You) 3rd (He/She)
No gender  TĂŽi 
MĂŹnh 		BáșĄn ChĂĄu áș„y
Em áș„y
Con / ChĂĄu, Em 
Male Ă”ng
ChĂș
Anh		Ông áș„y
ChĂș áș„y
Anh áș„y
Female BĂ  
CĂŽ 
Chị		BĂ  áș„y
CĂŽ áș„y
Chị áș„y
Position (1st)1st (I)Position (2nd)2nd (You)
Equal TĂŽi 
MĂŹnh 		EqualBáșĄn 
Lower Con / ChĂĄu Higher Ă”ng / ChĂș 
BĂ  / CĂŽ 
Lower Em Higher Anh / Chị 
Higher Anh / Chị Lower Em 
Higher Ă”ng / ChĂș 
BĂ  / CĂŽ 		Lower Con / ChĂĄu 

SINGULAR || 1ST PERSON ”I”

When indicating “I” with no specific gender and you are at the same position level with the others, you can use: 

TĂŽi I
(formal) 
MĂŹnh I
(casual)

NOTE: “MĂŹnh” is used commonly in daily conversations. 

For example: 

TĂŽi lĂ  DavidI am David
MĂŹnh lĂ  học sinhI am a student

From this part, you can see the “I” is pronounced as family members in the Vietnamese language. 

When indicating “I” with no specific gender and you are at a lower position level than the others, you can use: 

Con or ChĂĄu I
(as a child/ a grandchild) 
EmI
(as a younger brother/a younger sister)

For example: 

Con lĂ  Lisa I am Lisa
Chåu là båc sĩI am a doctor
Em lĂ m việcI work

When indicating “I” with male-gender and you are at a higher position level than the others, you can use: 

AnhI
(as an older brother)
ChĂșI
(as an uncle)
ÔngI
(as a very old man)

For example: 

Anh lĂ  giĂĄo viĂȘnI am a teacher
ChĂș lĂ  ba của Lisa I am Lisa’s father
Ông uống nước I drink water 

When indicating “I” with female gender and you are at a higher position level than the others, you can use: 

ChịI
(as an older sister)
CĂŽI
(as an aunt)
BĂ I
(as a very old woman)

For example: 

Chị lĂ  giĂĄo viĂȘnI am a teacher
CĂŽ lĂ  máșč của Lisa I am Lisa’s mother
BĂ  uống nước I drink water 

SINGULAR || 2ND PERSON ”YOU”

When indicating “You” with no specific gender and “You” is at the same position level as yours, you can use: 

BáșĄn You

For example: 

BáșĄn lĂ  ai? Who are you?
BáșĄn tĂȘn gĂŹ? What is your name? 

From this part, you can see the “You” is pronounced as family members in the Vietnamese language. 

When indicating “You” with no specific gender and “You” is at a lower position level than yours, you call: 

Con or ChĂĄu You
(as a child/ a grandchild) 
EmYou
(as a younger brother/a younger sister)

For example: 

Con lĂ  Lisa háșŁ?Are you Lisa?
ChĂĄu lĂ  bĂĄc sÄ© háșŁ?Are you a doctor
Em lĂ m việc háșŁ?Do you work? 

When indicating “You” with male-gender and “You” is at a higher position level than yours, you call:

AnhYou
(as an older brother)
ChĂșYou
(as an uncle)
ÔngYou
(as a very old man)

For example: 

Anh lĂ  giĂĄo viĂȘn háșŁ? Are you a teacher?
ChĂș lĂ  ba của Lisa háșŁ? Are you Lisa’s father?
Ông uống nước háșŁ? Do you drink water? 

When indicating “You” with female gender and “You” is at a higher position level than yours, you call:

ChịYou
(as an older sister)
CĂŽYou
(as an aunt)
BĂ You
(as a very old woman)

For example: 

Chị lĂ  giĂĄo viĂȘn?Are you a teacher
CĂŽ lĂ  máșč của Lisa? Are you Lisa’s mother
BĂ  uống nước? Do you drink water? 

These are examples of saying “Hi” between people of different age-level and genders in Vietnamese language: 

Em chĂ o chị áșĄ! Hi
(the younger says hi to older sister)
CĂŽ chĂ o con! Hi
(an aunt says hi to a child) 
BĂ  chĂ o chĂĄu! Hi
(an old woman says hi to a child) 

SINGULAR || 3RD PERSON ”HE/SHE”

To form the 3rd person singular pronoun you will need to know the ones previously mentioned.

PATTERN

Pronoun + áș„y

NOTE // áș€y indicates the word “that” in English.

You can not say con áș„y but you can say chĂĄu áș„y.

For example:

ChĂĄu áș„y lĂ  bĂĄc sÄ©He/she (general child)  is a doctor
Em áș„y láșĄnhHe/she (general young brother/sister) is cold
BáșĄn áș„y vui váș»He/she (general friend) is happy 
Anh áș„y lĂ m việcHe (general man) works
View More Examples:
Chị áș„y ăn cÆĄmShe (general lady) eats rice
ChĂș áș„y đi họcHe (general uncle) goes to school
CĂŽ áș„y lĂ  giĂĄo viĂȘnShe (general aunt) is a teacher
Ông áș„y ngủHe (general old man) sleeps
BĂ  áș„y thức She (general old lady) is awake

PLURAL PRONOUNS // INTRODUCTION

First have a look at this table summarising all Vietnamese Plural Pronouns. We will then analyse them all in the next chapters:

Plural Pronouns 
Gender1st (I)2nd (You) 3rd (They)
No gender  ChĂșng tĂŽi 
ChĂșng mĂŹnh 		CĂĄc báșĄn CĂĄc chĂĄu áș„y
CĂĄc em áș„y
ChĂșng con/ ChĂșng chĂĄu
ChĂșng em 		CĂĄc con
CĂĄc chĂĄu
CĂĄc em
Male CĂĄc ĂŽng
CĂĄc chĂș
CĂĄc anh		CĂĄc ĂŽng áș„y
CĂĄc chĂș áș„y
CĂĄc anh áș„y
Female CĂĄc bĂ  
CĂĄc cĂŽ 
CĂĄc bhị		CĂĄc bĂ  áș„y
CĂĄc cĂŽ áș„y
CĂĄc chị áș„y
Position (1st)1st (I)Position (2nd)2nd (You)
Equal ChĂșng tĂŽi 
ChĂșng mĂŹnh 		EqualCĂĄc báșĄn 
Lower ChĂșng con/ ChĂșng chĂĄuHigher CĂĄc ĂŽng – CĂĄc bĂ  
CĂĄc chĂș – CĂĄc cĂŽ 
Lower ChĂșng em Higher CĂĄc anh – CĂĄc chị 
Higher CĂĄc anh – CĂĄc chị Lower CĂĄc em 
Higher CĂĄc ĂŽng – CĂĄc bĂ  
CĂĄc chĂș – CĂĄc cĂŽ 		Lower CĂĄc con / CĂĄc chĂĄu

PLURAL || 1ST GROUP ”WE”

When indicating “We” that is gender-neutral, you add “ChĂșng” before the 1st-person non-gender singular pronouns: 

ChĂșng tĂŽi We
(formal) 
ChĂșng mĂŹnhWe
(casual)
ChĂșng con/ ChĂșng chĂĄuWe
(as children/ grandchildren) 
ChĂșng emWe
(as younger brothers/younger sisters)

When indicating “We” that is gender-specific, you add “CĂĄc” before the 1st-person gender-specific singular pronouns: 

CĂĄc anhWe
(as older brothers)
CĂĄc chĂșWe
(as uncles)
CĂĄc ĂŽngWe
(as very old men)
CĂĄc chịWe
(as older sisters)
CĂĄc cĂŽWe
(as aunties)
CĂĄc bĂ We
(as very old women)

For example: 

ChĂșng mĂŹnh lĂ  giĂĄo viĂȘnWe are teachers 
CĂĄc chĂș lĂ  giĂĄo viĂȘnWe are teachers (as uncles)
CĂĄc anh lĂ  giĂĄo viĂȘnWe are teachers (as older brothers)

PLURAL || 2ND GROUP ”YOU”

You add “CĂĄc” before the 2nd-person singular pronouns: 

CĂĄc báșĄnYou
CĂĄc con / CĂĄc chĂĄuYou (as children/ grandchildren)
CĂĄc emYou (as younger brothers/younger sisters)
CĂĄc anhYou (as older brothers)
CĂĄc chĂșYou (as uncles)
CĂĄc ĂŽngYou (as very old men)
CĂĄc chịYou (as older sisters)
CĂĄc cĂŽYou (as aunties)
CĂĄc bĂ You (as very old women)

These are examples of saying “Hi” between people of different age-level and genders in Vietnamese language: 

ChĂșng em chĂ o cĂĄc chị áșĄ! Hi (the youngers say hi to older sisters)
CĂĄc cĂŽ chĂ o cĂĄc con! Hi (aunties say hi to children) 
CĂĄc bĂ  chĂ o cĂĄc chĂĄu! Hi (old women say hi to children) 

PLURAL || 3RD GROUP ”THEY”

HọThey

For example: 

Họ lĂ  bĂĄc sÄ© They are doctors
Họ lĂ m việcThey work 

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FAQs

How to say ”you” in Vietnamese?

When indicating “You” with no specific gender and “You” is at the same position level as yours, you can use: BáșĄn 

When indicating “You” with no specific gender and “You” is at a lower position level than yours, you call: 

Con or Chåu (as a child/ a grandchild) 

Em (as a younger brother/a younger sister)

When indicating “You” with male-gender and “You” is at a higher position level than yours, you call:

Anh (as an older brother)

ChĂș (as an uncle)

Ông (as a very old man)

When indicating “You” with female gender and “You” is at a higher position level than yours, you call:

Chị (as an older sister)

CĂŽ (as an aunt)

BĂ  (as a very old woman)

How to say ”I” in Vietnamese?

When indicating “I” with no specific gender and you are at the same position level with the others, you can use: 

TÎi (formal) 

MÏnh (casual)

When indicating “I” with no specific gender and you are at a lower position level than the others, you can use: 

Con or Chåu  (as a child/ a grandchild) 

Em (as a younger brother/a younger sister)

When indicating “I” with male-gender and you are at a higher position level than the others, you can use: 

Anh (as an older brother)

ChĂș (as an uncle)

Ông (as a very old man)

When indicating “I” with female gender and you are at a higher position level than the others, you can use: 

Chị (as an older sister)

CĂŽ (as an aunt)

BĂ  (as a very old woman)

How to say ‘he/she” in Vietnamese?

To form the 3rd person singular pronoun you will need to know how to say I and you already.

Pronoun + áș„y

NOTE // áș€y indicates the word “that” in English.

You can not say con áș„y but you can say chĂĄu áș„y.

For example:

ChĂĄu áș„y lĂ  bĂĄc sÄ©. He/she (general child)  is a doctor

Em áș„y láșĄnh. He/she (general young brother/sister) is cold

BáșĄn áș„y vui váș». He/she (general friend) is happy 

Anh áș„y lĂ m việc. He (general man) works

How to say ”they” in Vietnamese?
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