HOW TO USE VIETNAMESE VOWELS AND VIETNAMESE CONSONANTS

In order to pronounce and read in Vietnamese, you need to know the vowels and consonants. In this article, Jellyfish will summarize the consonants and vowels in Vietnamese and how to distinguish between them so as to help you apply Vietnamese with simple words. 

I. Vietnamese Vowels

Vietnamese vowels are the basic knowledge that must be understood deeply when learning Vietnamese. However, many people are still struggling to understand this. Let’s find out the vowels in Vietnamese with Jellyfish!

1. What are vowels?

Vowels: are the sound when pronouncing, the flow of air going out of the lungs is not significantly obstructed. Vowels can stand on their own or in front of or behind consonants to form sounds in speech.

12 single vowels in Vietnamese

– In terms of writing, 12 single vowels are included in Vietnamese: a, ă, â, e, ê, i, o, ô, ơ, u, ư, y.

– In terms of phonetic, 11 single vowels are included in Vietnamese: A, Ă, Â, E, Ê, I/Y, O, Ô, Ơ, U, Ư.

– In addition to single vowels, there are various diphthongs in Vietnamese:

  • 32 diphthongs: AI, AO, AU, ÂU, AY , ÂY ,EO, ÊU, IA, IÊ/YÊ, IU, OA, OĂ, OE, OI, ÔI, ƠI, OO, ÔÔ, UA,UĂ, UÂ, ƯA, UÊ, UI, ƯI, UO, UÔ, UƠ, ƯƠ, ƯU,  UY.
  • 13 triphthongs: IÊU/YÊU, OAI, OAO, OAY, OEO, UAO, UÂY, UÔI, ƯƠI, ƯƠU, UYA, UYÊ, UYU

Note: In Vietnamese vowels, it is very important to keep an eye on accented vowels such as ư, ơ, ô, â, ă. Because these vowels are difficult to pronounce and harder to remember than other ones. 

See more: Learn vietnamese tones

2. Position and usage of Vietnamese vowels

Some words generally formed from the combination of vowels, consonants and punctuations. Every Vietnamese vowels has its own position and usage in a Vietnamese word. 

Position of vowels

Vietnamese Vowels also often have the first, last, or middle position of words or can stand alone.

Examples: 

  • Yêu
  • Con cá
  • Em bé

Vietnamese vowels pronunciation:

Nguyên âm đơn tiếng ViệtIPAÂm tương tự trong tiếng AnhVí dụ
a/a:/fatherBa (Father), Xa (Far)
ă/a/cutăn (eat)
â/ə/butmt (lost)
e/ɛ/setxe (vehicle)
ê/e/con dê (goat)
i,y/i/tea, metivi (TV)
o/ɔ/lawno (full)
ô/o/bowlcái ô (umbrella)
ơ/ə:/sirbơ (butter, avocado)
u/u/toobún (rice noodle)
ư/ɨ/ /ɯ/uh-uh (US)vt (throw away)

With diphthongs or triphthongs, they are the combination of 2 or 3 vowels with each other. It is quite difficult for beginners to pronounce, here are some commonly used diphthongs and triphthongs:

aiâuêuoeuaưi
ayâyiaoiưuuôi
aouâyiêuooươi
auoayiuôiuiuya
oaieooaiơiuyươu

How to pronounce diphthongs and triphthongs: 

  • (ư) + (a) => (ưa). Example: mưa…
  • (ư) + (ơ) + (u) => (ươu). Example: hươu…
  • (y) + (ê) + (u) => (yêu). Example: yêu…
  • (o) + (a) + (i) => (oai). Example: xoài…
  • (u) + (ê) => (Uê). Example: Uể oải…

See more: Vietnamese pronunciation guide

II. Consonants in Vietnamese

In Vietnamese, consonants consist of 17 letters, in combination with vowels to form a complete word. When combining with vowels, consonants generally stand in front or behind vowels. Here is a consonant table for your reference: 

Phụ âm tiếng ViệtPhiên âm IPAPhiên âm giống với tiếng AnhVí dụ
b/ɓ/blue, bestba (farther), bay (fly)
đ/ɗ / day, doneđi (go), đẹp (beautiful)
d/z/zero, zoodao (knife)
gi/j/yes, jumpgiày (shoes), gió (wind)
c, k/k/come, cutcao (tall), kem (cream)
g/gh/ɣ/go, getgà (chicken)

ghế (chair)

h/h/hi, hellohên (lucky),

ho (cough)

l/l/law, lovelo (nervous)
m/m/my, mindma (ghost)
n/n/number, nono (full)
p/p/pen, pushpin (battery)
s/ʂ/she, showsò (scallop) 
x/s/so, somexa (far)
t/t/stayto (big), tim (heart)
v/v/van, veryvà (and)
r/r /run, redrau (vegetable)
kh/kʰ/ /x/loch (Northern dialect)khô (dry)
nh/ɲ/nho (grape)
ng/ŋ/singngu (stupid)
ph/f/form, funph
qu/kw/ (Northern, Central)queenquên (forget)
/w/wow
th/tʰ/thinthầy (teacher)
tr/ʈʂ/try, trendtrơn (slippy)

Similar to vowels in Vietnamese, 2 single consonants can be used to make a compound consonant and Vietnamese consists of 11 compound consonants:  

  • Ph: phở, phim, phấp phới
  • Th: thỏ, thướt tha
  • Tr: tre, trúc, trước, trên
  • Gi: gia giáo, gió
  • Ch: cha, chú, che chở
  • Nh: nhỏ nhắn, nhẹ nhàng
  • Ng: ngây ngất, ngan ngát
  • Kh: không khí, khó, khế
  • Gh: ghế, ghi, ghé, ghẹ
  • Ngh: nghề nghiệp
  • Qu: quả, quý

See more: How to speak vietnamese like a navite

III. Distinguishing consonants – vowels in Vietnamese

Vowels and consonants are the elements in the Vietnamese alphabet. However, these ones have numerous differences. In order to make learning Vietnamese easier, here’s how to distinguish these two components.

NGUYÊN ÂMPHỤ ÂM
Số lượng chữ trong bảng chữ cái tiếng Việt.12 chữ17 chữ
Cách viếtA, Ă, Â, E, Ê, I, O, Ô, Ơ, U, Ư, Y.B, C, D, Đ, G, H, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, X.
Vị trí trong từĐứng đầu, cuối hoặc giữa của từ hoặc có thể đứng riêng biệt.Đứng đầu hoặc đứng cuối
Cách dùngCó thể đứng riêng biệt.

Kết hợp với phụ âm để tạo thành 1 từ có nghĩa.

Phụ âm không thể phát thành tiếng, mà chỉ khi kết hợp cùng với nguyên âm mới có thể phát ra được một từ hoàn chỉnh. 

Phụ âm không thế đứng một mình.

Through the above information, surely you also understand more about what Vietnamese vowels are as well as distinguish vowels and consonants in the alphabet. These are two very important components that make up the sound, words and perfection of Vietnamese.

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