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| LM: Xin chào . | Seen chaw | Hi |
| PM: Xin chào . | Seen chaw | Hi |
| LM: Tôi tên là Lê Mi, râ't vui -du*o*.c biê't anh. | Toy ten lah Le Mee rat vui doo-oc biet añ | My name is Le Mi, nice to meet you. |
| PM: Tôi tên là Peter Miller, râ't vui -du*o*.c biê't cô. | Toy ten lah Peter Miller rat voo-ee deuek biet coe | My name is Peter Miller, nice to meet you. |
| LM: Anh Miller, anh là ngu*o*`i nu*o*'c nào ? | Añ Miller, añ lah ngu-oi nuoc
nao |
Mr Miller, where are you from ? |
| PM: Tôi là ngu*o*`i Canada, co`n cô ? | Toy lah ngu-oi Canada, cone coe | I'm Canadian. And you ? |
| LM: Tôi là ngu*o*`i Viê.t Nam . | Toy lah ngu-oi Vietnam | I'm Vietnamese. |
| PM: Cô Lê Mi, cô là sinh viên pha?i không ? | Coe Le Mee, coe lah seeñ vien fai khong | Ms Le Mi, are you student ? |
| LM: Da. pha?i , tôi là sinh viên na(m thu*´ hai . C̣n anh là sinh viên na(m thu*' mâ'y ?? | Ya fai. Toy lah seeñ vien nam thoo hai. Cone añ lah seeñ vien nam thoo may | Yes, I'm a somophore. And what year are you in college? |
| PM: Tôi là sinh viên na(m thu*' tu* | Toy lah seeñ vien nam thoo too | I'm a senior. |
| xin chào | hello |
| tên là | am, are, is (only used with name) |
| tôi | I, me, myself, my |
| là | am, are, is |
| anh, cô | you |
| vui | glad |
| ... ngu*o*`i nu*o*'c nào | where ... from ? |
| ngu*o*`i Canada | Canadian (person) |
| ngu*o*`i Viê.t Nam | Vietnamese (person) |
| sinh viên | college student |
| na(m thu*' mâ'y | what grade level, what year (in school, college) |
| na(m thu*' hai | second level, second year (in college = sophomore) |
This sentence means "I am Lê Mi." It is standard for Vietnamese to use their family name first followed by their given name. The "tên là" is an equivalent to "am", "are", and "is" but is used only when a personal name is involved. The "là" itself is the equivalent to the English verb "to be" and is used only when a noun is involved like in a sentence such as "I am a student". With adjectives, "là" is dropped altogether, a Vietnamese speaker would say "Tôi -dói" which is "I hungry", not "I am hungry".
Examples: Tôi tên là Smith.
I am Mr. Smith.
Tôi là sinh viên.
I am a student.2. Râ't vui -du*o*.c biê't anh (cô).
This sentence means "Nice to meet you". The word "anh" is used when your partner is a young male. The word "cô" is used to address young female.
Examples: Anh là ai ?
Who are you ? (male)
Cô là sinh viên pha?i không ?
Are you a student ? (female)For more details see How to address people - The biggest issue in Vietnamese language.
3. Anh là ngu*o*`i nu*o*'c nào ?
In Vietnamese adjectives are put behind nouns. Questions
are made by putting words like "what", "who, "where", "which", "how" at
the end of sentences. Then the exact translation of this sentence
is "You are person country which" ? "Ngu*o*`i " means "person"
and "nu*o*'c" means "country".
Questions of type "Are you ... " or "Is he
..." are created by adding the particle "pha?i không" which
means "right, isn't it?" to the end of affirmative sentences.
Examples: Anh là ngu*o*`i My~ pha?i không ?
Are you an American?
Anh là Peter Miller pha?i không ?
Are you Peter Miller ?4. Da. pha?i
This is the polite answer "Yes" for questions ending
by " ... pha?i không ?"
Examples: Da. pha?i, tôi là Peter Miller.
Yes, I am Peter Miller.5. Tôi là sinh viên na(m thu*´ hai.
This sentence means "I am a somophore" . The word "sinh
viên" is a compound word and means "student" (at college). "na(m"
is "year" and "thu*' hai" is "second".
Examples: Peter Miller là sinh viên na(m thu*´ tu*
Peter Miller is senior (student year fourth).
2. Anh and cô means "you" when your partner is relatively young person. In a more formal situation, Vietnamese people use ông (for male person) or bà (for female person).
3. Râ't vui -du*o*.c biê't anh is used only to greet someone for the first time. It literally means "nice to know you ". From the second meeting it is supposed you already know each other.
4. Da. means "yes" in Vietname. However, it can
be used differently. This will be explained later in a later section.