Vietnamese phrases for travellers: the useful dozen

Vietnamese phrases worth learning before you land

Short answer

Vietnamese is tonal, with six tones in the northern variety and typically five in the south, and it is written in chu Quoc ngu, a Latin alphabet adopted officially in the early 20th century. About a dozen phrases cover greeting, thanks, prices, the bill and dietary needs.

Last checked: September 21, 2026

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The shape of the language

	Figure
Tones, northern variety	6: ngang, huyen, sac, hoi, nga, nang
Tones, southern variety	Typically 5
Script	Chu Quoc ngu, a Latin alphabet
Script origin	Alexandre de Rhodes, 1651 dictionary, from Portuguese spelling
Officially adopted	Early 20th century
Native speakers	About 86 million
Type	Isolating and highly analytic, mostly monosyllabic

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The dozen

These are written the way they are written. Say them however they come out and show the screen if the tones fail you.

Vietnamese	What it does
Xin chào	Hello
Cảm ơn	Thank you
Dạ	Yes, politely, and a general softener
Không	No, and also the number zero
Bao nhiêu tiền?	How much is it?
Tính tiền	The bill, please
Không cay	No chilli
Tôi ăn chay	I am vegetarian
Xin lỗi	Sorry, and excuse me
Nhà vệ sinh ở đâu?	Where is the toilet?
Ngon	Delicious
Một, hai, ba	One, two, three

Why the tones matter and how to survive them

Vietnamese is tonal. The northern variety uses six tones, ngang, huyen, sac, hoi, nga and nang, and the southern variety typically uses five. A syllable said on the wrong pitch contour is a different word, not an accented version of the same one.

That sounds discouraging and mostly is not, for one practical reason. Because the language is written in a Latin alphabet, you can point at the phrase. The tones live in the diacritics, so the written form carries the information your voice dropped, and the exchange completes anyway.

The alphabet is chu Quoc ngu, developed by Alexandre de Rhodes for a 1651 dictionary on the basis of 17th century Portuguese spelling and officially adopted in the early 20th century. Whatever else you think of that history, the practical consequence for a visitor is that Vietnamese is the easiest tonal language in the region to read at a menu.

Where the phrases pay

Bao nhiêu tiền? before you commit, not after. The price question is the one that prevents misunderstandings.
Tính tiền gets the bill without waving.
Không cay at a street stall is the difference between enjoying lunch and not tasting dinner.
Dạ is the one that changes the temperature of an interaction. It is a soft, polite yes, and it is used far more freely than an English speaker expects.

Reading the prices you are asking about is in Vietnam’s money, and whether to add anything on top is in tipping in Vietnam. What to order with those phrases is in Vietnamese street food and Vietnamese coffee.

For a translation app that works when you are standing at a stall, the connection matters more than the app: sizing is in how much mobile data for Vietnam and the plans are in the Vietnam eSIM store.

Questions

How hard is the pronunciation?

The tones are the work. The northern variety has six, ngang, huyen, sac, hoi, nga and nang, and the southern variety typically has five. Everything else is easier than you expect, because the writing is a Latin alphabet and the words are mostly one syllable.

Why does it use the Latin alphabet?

The script is chu Quoc ngu, developed by Alexandre de Rhodes for his 1651 dictionary and drawing on 17th century Portuguese spelling, and officially adopted in the early 20th century. It means you can read a street sign out loud on day one, badly but recognisably.

Will I be understood with the wrong tone?

Sometimes, from context, and sometimes not at all. Say the phrase and show the written form if it fails, which is exactly why the Latin alphabet helps. Nobody expects the tones to be right, and the attempt lands regardless.

Which phrases actually earn their place?

Hello, thank you, how much, the bill, no chilli, and a number or two. Those five situations account for most of what a visitor needs to say, and each one saves a small negotiation several times a day.

Is one phrasebook enough for the whole country?

Broadly yes, with the caveat that pronunciation shifts between north and south, along with a few everyday words. Vietnamese has about 86 million native speakers, and written Vietnamese is consistent even where the spoken forms differ.