Similar Words

Due to the tones and the letters appearing so similar to each other, especially for foreigners, Vietnamese has many words that are very easy to confuse.

Rather than see this as a problem, think of this as a great exercise in practicing the correct tones and getting 3-4 words for the price of one, since you just need to remember the tone or sound slightly for each new word.

Vietnamese people use a few examples when showing off how many tones Vietnamese has. Words like ‘ma’ have a different meaning for all six tones. Fortunately, this isn’t the case for every word. Most words don’t have anything so similar in common use.

In fact, the longer your sentences are and the more grammar you, the less the exact pronunciation of each word matters. This is why I believe you should learn pronunciation in parallel, rather than in series with Vietnamese. It may be true that you’ll never sound like a Vietnamese person, but if you emphasise the tones, you will be understood.

ma

• ma - ghost
• má
• mà
• mã (old Chinese word for horse)
• mạ
• mả

ban

• ban (board (whiteboard etc))
• bạn (friend, you (same age))
• bán (to sell)
• bàn (a table)
  • bạn quá bận để bán bàn này (you are too busy to sell this table)
• bận (busy)
• dơ bẩn (dirty)

vang

• vang (wine)
• vâng (‘yes’ to someone older)
• vàng (gold)
• vắng (to be absent/fewer people than normal)
  • vắng vẻ (no one here)

  dua

• dừa (coconut)
• trái dứa (pineapple)
• dưa hấu (watermelon)

Yoghurt and Mechanics

• sữa chua (yoghurt)
• sửa chữa (to repair)

Notice on which the squiggly line appears. If you even half try to say it, they will understand that you’re not ordering a yoghurt drink when you walk into a mechanic shop with smoke pouring out of your motorcycle. In fact, in this situation, you probably won’t even have to open your mouth.