Tuttle Compact Vietnamese Dictionary. Phan Van Giuong
chị, em, tau, mày... depending on age and relationship between the first and second persons.
6. Vietnamese words that are loanwords have their Vietnamese pronunciation connected by hyphens (-), for example:
a-xít n. acid
ki-lô n. [Fr. kilogram] kilogram
7. Abbreviations used in this Dictionary are as follows:
| Abbreviations | Full word | Vietnamese equivalent |
| adj. | adjective | tính từ |
| adv. | adverb | phụ từ |
| conj. | conjunction | kết từ |
| intj. | interjection | cảm từ |
| n. | noun | danh từ |
| pl. | plural | số nhiểu |
| prep. | preposition | giới từ |
| pron. | pronoun | đại từ |
| sing | singular | số ít |
| v. | verb | động từ |
| num. | numeral | số từ |
A Guide to Vietnamese Pronunciation
Vietnamese is a tonal language where no word is conjugated. The Vietnamese alphabet has 29 letters:
a, ă, â, b, c, d, đ, e, ê, g, h, i, k, l, m, n, o, ô, ơ, p, q, r, s, t, u, ư, 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, đ, 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, ă, â, e, ê, i/y, o, ô, ơ, u, ư. Vowels can also be grouped together to form a cluster or a word.
The following tables show the vowels and consonants in Vietnamese pronunciation with their English equivalents.
Vowels
| Vietnamese | English | Example | Meaning |
| a | father | ba | three |
| ă | hat | ăn | to eat |
| â | but | âm | sound |
| e | bet | em | younger brother/sister |
| ê | may | đêm | night |
| i/y | me | kim | needle |
| o | law | lo | to worry |
| ô | no | cô | aunt |
| ơ | fur | bơ | butter |
| u | too | ngu | stupid |
| ư | uh-uh | thư | letter |
Consonants
| Vietnamese | English | Example | Meaning |
| b | book | bút | pen |
| c, k, q | can | cá | fish |
| kem | ice-cream | ||
| quý | precious | ||
| ch | chore | cho | to give |
| d, gi | zero | da | skin |
| gì | what | ||
| đ | do | đi | to go |
| g/gh | go | ga | railway station |
| ghe | boat | ||
| h | hat | hai | two |
| kh | (no real English equivalent) | không | no |
| l | lot | làm | 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 | phải | right |
| r | run | ra | to go out |
| s | show | sữa | milk |
| t | top | tốt | good |
| th | thin | thăm | to visit |
| tr | entry | trên | on/ above |
| v |