The correct way to say "thank you" in Vietnamese

Vietnamese Tiếng Việt
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“Thank you” in Vietnamese is “cảm ơn” or “cám ơn”, depending on the regional dialect. “Cảm ơn” is more of a Northern dialect, whereas “cám ơn” is more Southern.

One tip to remember the word is to say “Come on” when you wanna say “Thank you” in Vietnamese. But, the “on” is pronounced more like “ɒn” like in “becAUse”, not like “ON/off”.

If you want to sound like Advanced Vietnamese, throw in a pronoun. There are so many pronouns, but the easiest tip I can offer is to remember these 3 pronouns to address your listeners.

  • If your listener is a man older than you, say “cảm ơn anh”
  • If your listener is a woman older than you, say “cảm ơn chị”
  • If your listener is younger than you, say “cảm ơn em”

These are the basics of saying “thank you” in Vietnamese. If you’re curious for more details to express gratitude, here is a compilation for you. Check it out!
https://flexiclasses.com/vietnamese/thank-you/

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Mastering the pronunciation of this word was a challenge of mine last time I was in HCMC, I hope I will remember for next time :laughing:

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Thank you Holly!

Just out of curiosity, do people usually not respond the equivalent of “You’re welcome” in Vietnamese when someone says thank you? Because I’m not sure if that’s the case, or if I was just butchering the pronunciation of cảm ơn and people just didn’t know what I was saying :joy: but usually I’d just get a nod or a ‘mm’ as response

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We have “không có gì - nothing/ don’t mention it”. But I feel like it’s only used after you have thanked someone for having done some favor for you. I guess if it’s a service, like selling banh mi or coffee, the shopkeepers will nod or “mm” as a response to your thank, like you said. A very astute observation nonetheless, Hannah!

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I was just having a read through at this and I was mindblown by the pronouns section :exploding_head: I didn’t realise saying thank you could be so complicated!

Especially compared to Mandarin, where to be respectful, you can simply address everyone with 您 （nin)

thank you in vietnamese
thank you in vietnamese872×242 33.1 KB

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Yes, we like to complicate things up with precise pronouns. Every Vietnamese learner dreads this :joy: :joy: But honestly tho, in a sense, it can be simple, cute and intimate, because Vietnamese use pronouns that used for family members to address strangers. So your boss can be your “big brother”, teacher be your “aunty”, etc. If you have gotten a sense of pronoun usage in one aspect, you can deduct its usage in another.

This might help ya

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Learning how to say thank you my friend in Vietnamese: cám ơn bạn của tôi will open so many doors in Vietnam believe me :laughing: