The Vietnamese alphabet
Vietnamese is written in Latin letters, with a few extra vowels and tone marks. Learn 29 letters and a handful of letter pairs, and you can read almost any word aloud. Tap anything to hear it.
29 letters
Each letter has a name, used when spelling, and a sound, used when reading. Vowels sound like their names.
- Vowel
- Name
- a
- Sound
- a /aː/
- Vowel
- Name
- á
- Sound
- á /a/
- Vowel
- Name
- ớ
- Sound
- ớ /ə/
- Consonant
- Name
- bê
- Sound
- bờ /ɓ/
- Consonant
- Name
- xê
- Sound
- cờ /k/
- Consonant
- Name
- dê
- Sound
- dờ /z/
- Consonant
- Name
- đê
- Sound
- đờ /ɗ/
- Vowel
- Name
- e
- Sound
- e /ɛ/
- Vowel
- Name
- ê
- Sound
- ê /e/
- Consonant
- Name
- giê
- Sound
- gờ /ɣ/
- Consonant
- Name
- hát
- Sound
- hờ /h/
- Vowel
- Name
- i ngắn
- Sound
- i /i/
- Consonant
- Name
- ca
- Sound
- ca /k/
- Consonant
- Name
- e-lờ
- Sound
- lờ /l/
- Consonant
- Name
- em-mờ
- Sound
- mờ /m/
- Consonant
- Name
- en-nờ
- Sound
- nờ /n/
- Vowel
- Name
- o
- Sound
- o /ɔ/
- Vowel
- Name
- ô
- Sound
- ô /o/
- Vowel
- Name
- ơ
- Sound
- ơ /əː/
- Consonant
- Name
- pê
- Sound
- pờ /p/
- Consonant
- Name
- quy
- Sound
- quờ /kw/
- Consonant
- Name
- e-rờ
- Sound
- rờ /z/
- Consonant
- Name
- ét-xì
- Sound
- sờ /s/
- Consonant
- Name
- tê
- Sound
- tờ /t/
- Vowel
- Name
- u
- Sound
- u /u/
- Vowel
- Name
- ư
- Sound
- ư /ɨ/
- Consonant
- Name
- vê
- Sound
- vờ /v/
- Consonant
- Name
- ích-xì
- Sound
- xờ /s/
- Vowel
- Name
- i dài
- Sound
- i /i/
Letter pairs
These pairs of letters make a single consonant sound.
Vowel combinations
Two or three vowels glide together in one syllable. The tone mark goes on the main vowel.
- ai
- ao
- au
- ay
- âu
- ây
- eo
- êu
- ia
- iê
- oa
- oe
- oi
- ôi
- ơi
- ua
- uô
- ưa
- ươ
- ui
- ưi
- uyê
Final consonants
A syllable can end in only these eight sounds. They are short and silent at the end: close your lips or tongue and stop, with no puff of air.
- -c/k̚/
- -ch/k̚/
- -m/m/
- -n/n/
- -ng/ŋ/
- -nh/ɲ/
- -p/p̚/
- -t/t̚/
Spelling rules
c, k and q are the same /k/ sound: write k before i, e and ê, q always with u (qu), and c everywhere else.
g is written gh before i, e and ê.
ng is written ngh before i, e and ê.
Build syllables
A consonant plus a vowel makes a syllable. Read across a row, then down a column, and tap to check.
| a | e | i | o | u | ơ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| b | ||||||
| c / k | ||||||
| d | ||||||
| đ | ||||||
| g / gh | ||||||
| h | ||||||
| l | ||||||
| m | ||||||
| n | ||||||
| s | ||||||
| t | ||||||
| x |
Add the tones
Every syllable also carries one of six tones, shown by a mark on the main vowel. Same letters, six different words:
Practise
Listen and choose
Hear a syllable, then tap how it is written.
Spell it
Hear a word, then tap the letters in order. Tone marks sit on the vowels.
North and South
This page follows the Hanoi (Northern) accent. In the South, d, gi and v sound like the y in “yes”, r is closer to an English r, and s and tr are said with the tongue curled back.