Pronouns - Video Script
This is the script for the pronouns overview video.
View this video on my Instagram Page:
Opener: Crash course on Vietnamese pronouns.
introduction
So in Vietnamese, the pronouns you use depends on the context and the person you're talking to. Also different regions in Vietnam can have different preferences in how people choose to call each other.
neutrals
Let's start with "I". The polite version that usually gets taught first is "tôi". It's used in formal contexts but also on TV shows. For example, "tôi không biết" means "I don't know".
You might hear it pronounced as "tui". So, "tui hông biết".
"tớ" is another casual version. So, "tớ không biết". Both of these can be used between friends and acquaintances, usually amongst younger people.
"mình" is a friendly, intimate one. You can use this with acquaintances, friends or partners.
"tao" is a very informal version that you would use between close friends but some people can be quite relaxed with being informal from the get-go. "Tao" is also used when people are confrontational.
pairing
It's helpful to think of Vietnamese pronouns in pairs of You & I. So for example, "cậu" goes with "tớ": cậu - tớ. "Tớ không biết. Cậu có biết không?" "I don't know. Do you know?"
Similarly: "mày" goes with "tao": mày - tao. "Tao không biết. Mày có biết không?"
So far, the pronouns above are not gendered. They are also ones you'd use with acquaintances, friends, people of the same age, and they don't have any connotations on roles, such as being younger or older.
non-neutrals
gendering
Now, if you are male and you're quote unquote "older" than the person you're talking to. Then you can use "anh" for "I", and "em" would be "you" (the person you're talking to): anh-em. "Anh không biết. Em có biết không?"
If you are female, then "chị" - "em". "Chị không biết. Em có biết không?"
roles
siblings/cousins
<<<I said quote unquote "older", because you use "anh-chị" when the other person is your younger sibling, or someone around their age, or..., if they are a cousin but your parent is older than their related parent, even if you're younger by age.>>> [not relevant enough to include in an overview video]
Conversely, if you are "younger", then you'd use "em" to refer to yourself, and "anh" "chị" to refer to the older person you're talking to.
"Anh" and "Chị" literally means older brother and sister so when I said "older" and "younger" I really meant people who are within sibling's age of each other.
Another thing to notice is that, for these (non-neutral) pronouns, both you and the person you're talking to will use the same pronouns. So if they call you "em", you know you can refer to yourself as "em" (unless you think they're wrong)
parents/uncles&aunts/grandparents
When you talk to your parents, uncles and aunts, grandparents or people considerably older, your pronoun is "con". So, "con không biết".
You can ask yourself the question "is this person within my parent's generation?" before you refer to yourself as "con".
In some places, you might refer to yourself as "cháu", which is the word used to refer to nephews, nieces, and grandkids.
The word for dad is "ba" or "bố" and the word for mom is "mẹ" or "má". "Mẹ đang ở đâu?" "Ba đang ở đâu?" means "Where are you?" or "Where is mom?" "Where is dad?"
The word for grandfather is "ông", and for grandmother is "bà". You can use these for people who are your grandparents' generation.
If the person is your dad's younger brother, they are "chú". If he's your mom's younger brother, they are "cậu". And, for the Dad's younger sister's "cô". Mom's "dì".
If they are older than your parents, then they are "bác", regardless of gender.
inlaws
And here are the pronouns for in-laws which I'll just put on the screen here. [not relevant enough to include in an overview video]
third person pronoun
A third person pronoun, is a word you refer to somebody you're not directly speaking to. In Vietnamese, for most cases, you can add "đó" or "ấy" which means "that", after a pronoun. So for example, if you're talking to a guy "Anh ấy đang ở đâu?" means "where is he?" whereas "Anh đang ở đâu?" means "Where are you?"
So we have "anh ấy" "chị ấy" "cô ấy" "chú ấy" and so on. You might hear the contracted version which is "ảnh" "chỉ" "cổ" etc.
neutral
The pronoun "nó" literally means "it", so you can use this to refer to animals, objects, but also your (younger) siblings, cousins, close friends and acquaintances. This is informal and you wouldn't use this to refer to other people when you want to show respect. For example, you may use "nó" to refer to another person when gossiping but you'd use "anh ấy" when you talk about them to a colleague.
You may also hear "thằng đó" or "cái con đó" to refer to a 3rd person male or female, but they have a blunt if not angry tone.
plurals
The word for "we" is "chúng tôi", which is the most formal one. We also have "chúng ta" "chúng tớ" " chúng mình". And we also have "tụi mình" or "tụi tao".
[N/B: "tụi mình" and "chúng mình" are used when you speak to the in-group, but not when you're talking to the out-group. Like, "We should hangout" (chúng mình đi chơi đi) versus "We are not like you guys" (Tụi tao không có giống như tụi mày)]
The word for plural "you" may be "các bạn", which means "friends". But you may also hear "các anh" "các chú" "mấy chị" "mấy chú" "các con" "mấy cô" "mấy đứa"
[Another example: "We are not like you guys" = "Chúng tôi không có giống như các anh"]
third-person
"họ" is "they/them". You can use this both as singular or plural third person pronoun.
You can add "ấy" and "đó" to make these third-person plural pronouns. Usually these:
- "mấy chị đó" (those sisters/those women)
- "các anh ấy" (those [young] men) "mấy anh ấy"
- "mấy cô đó" (those ladies)
- "mấy đứa đó" (those people, usually young)
- "mấy thằng đó" (those boys)
- or "tụi nó" ("them") (impolite)
outro
There's of course a lot more nuances in our these pronouns are used. For example, in English you might say "Where's Uncle Jun?" and the same thing happens in Vietnamese: "Chú Tư đang ở đâu?" where "chú" means Uncle and "tư" is fourth (he's actually the third son in the family since the oldest son is the second "bác hai"). Hopefully this video was helpful and feel free to ask questions in the comments.