8 COMMON WAYS TO SAY GOODBYE IN VIETNAMESE – FOR BEGINNERS

How to say “goodbye” in Vietnamese? Vietnamese people have many ways to say goodbye, depending on circumstances

To help you impress native Vietnamese; Jellyfish has listed the 8 most popular and applicable ways to say goodbye in this article. Let’s check it out!

I. 5 Popular ways to say Goodbye in Vietnamese

Vietnamese is extremely diverse and this may explain its having several ways to say “goodbye”. Let’s explore some common ways to say goodbye in Vietnamese in the following article.

1. Tạm biệt (Goodbye in Vietnamese)

How to say “Goodbye” in Vietnamese? The simplest ways to say “Goodbye” in Vietnamese can be in the 2 following ways: 

  • Tạm biệt/Chào tạm biệt (Goodbye)
  • Chào (Bye)

Note: Goodbye means “Tạm biệt” in Vietnamese, but usually Vietnamese people say “Chào nhé” in this case.

Tạm biệt - Goodbye in Vietnamese

We suggest using this due to its simplicity but please only use this to your peers, not to anyone older than you as it will be considered impolite. We also recommend below formula to specific group of people:

  • Tạm biệt + The correct pronoun to call that person

For examples:

  • Tạm biệt Hoa (Hoa is name of person you say bye to)
  • Tạm biệt chị (when you say goodbye to a female older than you)
  • Tạm biệt cô (when you say goodbye to your aunty/or people with the same age as your aunty)

See more: Vietnamese pronunciation guide

2. Saying “goodbye” to older people – How to say Goodbye in Vietnamese

This is the most completed form of saying goodbye, somehow refered to the most respectful and polite way. However, to be able to use this correctly, you would need to understand pronouns in Vietnamese

Structure: 

  • Subject (I) + Chào +The correct pronoun to call that person + (ạ – honorific)
  • Tạm biệt + The correct pronoun to call that person + (ạ – honorific)

For examples:

  • Em chào anh ạ ( person is male, older than you)
  • Cháu chào cô ạ (person is female, same age as your parents)
  • Tạm biệt chú ạ ( person is a male, the same age as your parents) 

Note: This is not usually the case with younger people.

3. Saying “goodbye” to close friends

With close friends, no such structure is formulated. In fact, people use it flexibly . 

For examples:

  • Sớm gặp lại nhé (See you soon)
  • Hẹn mai gặp nha/Mai gặp nhé (See you tomorrow)
  • Nói chuyện sau nhé (Talk to you later)

4. Say “goodbye” to your business partner

In some special cases which require formality such as meetings with partners or customers, different structures  are used. 

In addition, when saying goodbye to the business partners, Vietnamese people often accompany the act of shaking hands with greetings to show hospitality and respect for them.

Structure: “Hẹn gặp lại + pronouns (anh/chị/ông/bà)”

For example:

  • Hẹn gặp lại anh vào lần hợp tác tiếp theo: See you in our next cooperation
  • Hẹn gặp lại chị: See you again (hand shaking).
  • Hẹn gặp lại ông: See you again (hand shaking).

Note: 

  • Here, using “Mr./Mr.s” shows respect to your partners.
  • Shaking hands whilst talking to your partners is acceptable and usually shows good will.

5. Say “goodbye” to a group of people

If you would like to say goodbye to everyone in a group of people and it is inconvenient to do it individually you may use the following way instead:

Structure:

  • Tạm biệt + mọi người (nhé/sau)
  • Hẹn gặp lại + mọi người (nhé/sau)

For example:

  • Tạm biệt mọi người nhé! (Goodbye everyone)
  • Hẹn gặp lại mọi người sau: (See you later)

See more: 

II. Other ways to say “goodbye” in Vietnamese

In addition to some common structures shown above, goodbye in Vietnamese can be modified to suit the circumstances

1. Good Luck!

Often used when saying goodbye to someone who is preparing for a competition or a presentation, etc. Usually used to hope that person will do a good job and accompanied by a goodbye.

Structure: Chúc + pronoun (you) + may mắn + (nhé)

For example:

  • Chúc em may mắn nhé: Good Luck for you! (person is someone younger than you)
  • Chúc anh may mắn (person is a male, older than you)
  • Chúc bạn may mắn (person is at the same age as than you)
  • Chúc may mắn (no pronouns, a general way)
  • Chúc em hoàn thành tốt nhiệm vụ (hoping you to accomplish your task well)

2. Bye bye

If the above ways do not work for you, you can simply say “Bye” or “Bye – Bye” in most cases. This way is too popular that most Vietnamese use. .

Note: This way is not suitable to farewell the elder because some people see it impolite or difficult to understand.

3. Use action

If you don’t remember the above structures, you can use actions instead  :

  • wave hands
  • shake hands
  • hug

Note: These actions are used to different objects.

For example:

  • Hug: use with  family members, lovers, close friends
  • Shake hands:use with partners
  • Wave hands: use with close friends

Above are 8 types of greetings in Vietnamese we recommend foreigners to use.Hope you find  this article useful.

If you want to speak Vietnamese smoothly, let’s check out the high quality courses at Jellyfish: 

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