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| LM: Chào Peter. Anh co' kho?e kho^ng ? | Chaw Peter. Anh core khoe hong ? | Hi Peter! How're you doing? |
| PM: Chào Mi. To^i kho?e. Co^ Mi ho^m nay dde.p qua' ! | Chaw Mi. Toy khoe. Coe Mi home nay depp wa. | Hi Mi! You look very nice today! |
| LM: Ca'm o+n Peter! Ho^m nay anh co' ddi nghe gia?ng kho^ng ? | Come earn Peter! Home nay anh core dee nghe yang hong ? | Thanks Peter! Did you have a lecture today? |
| PM: Kho^ng, To^i vo^ thu+vie^.n la`m dde^` a'n ! Co`n Mi thi` sao ? | Khong, toy yo thuh vien lame de an.
Cone Mi tee sow ? |
No, I just went to library to work on my project. How about you ? |
| LM: To^i kho^ng the^? na`o ta^.p trung ddu+o+.c vi` ho^m nay la` sinh nha^.t cu?a to^i. | Toy khong the now tap troong dirk, vee home nay lah sing niat quo toy.
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I couldn't pay attention at all because today is my birthday. |
| PM: O^`, chu'c Mi sinh nha^.t vui ve? | Oh, chook Mi sing niat voo-ee ver | Oh, Happy Birthday, Mi! |
| LM: Ca'm o+n Peter! Anh bao nhie^u tuo^?i va^.y ? | Come earn Peter. Anh bow niew too-oy vay ? | Thanks Peter! How old are you? |
| PM: To^i 25 tuo^?i. | Toy high lam too-oy. | I'm 25. |
| LM: Em 21. Anh go.i Mi la` em cu~ng ddu+o+.c ma` ! | Em high mote. Anh goy Mi lah em koong dirk mah. | I'm 21. You can call me "em", Peter. |
| PM: Em ho.c gi` va^.y ? | Em hoc yee vay ? | What is your major ? |
| LM: Em ho.c du+o+.c. Co`n anh ? | Em hoc yirk. Cone anh ? | I study pharmacy. And you ? |
| PM: Anh ho.c qua?n tri. kinh doanh. | Anh hoc quan tree keen yoen. | I study Business Administration. |
| anh (o^ng, ba` , co^) co' kho?e kho^ng ? | how are you ? |
| co^ (ba`) home day depp wa | you're very beautiful today |
| ddi nghe gia?ng | to go to a lecture |
| ddi vo^ thu+ vie^.n | to go to library |
| la`m dde^` a'n | to work on a project |
| kho^ng the^? | unable, cannot |
| ta^.p trung | pay attention to something |
| sinh nha^.t vui ve? | happy birthday |
| anh (o^ng, ba`, co^) bao nhie^u tuo^?i | how old are you ? |
| anh go.i to^i la` ..... cu~ng ddu+o+.c | you can call me ..... |
| to^i ho.c ... | I study .... |
| Nghe^` cu?a to^i la` ... | My profession is .... |
This is a greeting to start a conversation with some one you have already
met. If the relation become friendlier you can use just Khoe?
kho^ng In the Vietnamese society it's a common way to greet people
by querying their well being, what are they doing,
or even whether they have had their meal. The more informal relation,
the more details could be asked.
Examples: Cha`o ba'c, ba'c kho?e kho^ng a. ?
(Used northern dialect to a respected person)
Good morning (afternoon), how are you?
Ta^m, ddi da^u ma` la^.t dda^.t va^.y ? A(n co+m chu+a ?.
(Used southern dialect to addresse a young person)
Ta^m, where're you hurrying ? Have you had dinner (lunch) ?
2. Co^ Mi ho^m nay dde.p qua' !
A compliment to a young lady! This sentence is created using superlative dde.p qua' which is the Vietnamese equivalence of how beautiful or what a beautiful + noun. Any adjective can be followed by qua' to become emphasized.
Examples: Ca?nh dde.p qua'!
What a beautiful view!
Tro+`i dde.p qua'!
What a nice day!
To^i me^.t qua'
I am too tired.
3. Ho^m nay to^i kho^ng the^? ta^.p trung ddu+o+.c.
In Vietnamese kho^ng the^? .... ddu+o+.c expresses either inability to carry out action or something impossible. Thus this form is used as a auxiliary verb cannot or adjective impossible. The opposite form is co' the^? (can, may, possible).
Examples: To^i kho^ng the^? ddi Vu~ng Ta`u ddu+o+c
I cannot go to Vu~ng Ta`u.
O^ng no'i la` chuye^'n bay cu?a to^i bi. hu?y a`, kho^ng the^? ddu+o+.c!
You said my my flight was canceled, it's impossible!
To^i co' the^? mo+`i ba` ddi an( to^'i kho^ng ?
May I invite you to dinner ?
4. Chu'c sinh nha^.t vui ve?
Chu'c + noun + adjective..... or Chu'c mu+`ng + noun ..... is the way to present your wishes, congratulations to others people. Traditionally Vietnamese people present each others New Year wishes at the first visit of a new Lunar Year. Christmas wishes are popular not only in Vietnamese Christian community but also in city middle class.
Examples: Chu'c mu+`ng na(m mo+'i!
Happy New Year!
Chu'c Gia'ng sinh vui ve?
Merry Christmas!5. Anh go.i Mi la` em cu~ng ddu+o+.c .
This sentence means "You can call me "em".
To^i or Tui (in Southern dialect) is always
the correct form of addressing yourself in first person. But Vietnamese
young people usually refer to themselves using their first names. A younger
person tends to call him/herself em when talking with
an older person. They avoid to use to^i because it's too formal,
though grammatically correct. I'll try to explain this phenomena of adjective
pronouns in one separate section.
Examples: Suppose Ms. Mi says: " Mi kho^ng thi'ch bu+'c tranh na`y. "
she infact means : "I don't like this picture"
where "I" was replace by her name.
2. In Vietnamese tradition, asking a person you meet for the first time personal questions about family, age, occupation is very common and legitimate. It indicates your interests about getting closer to your partner. You've probably heard everything in Asia is based on personal relations!
3. In Vietnam celebrating birthday becomes more popular
in recent years. But it is still a feature of well being, educated
families living in cities. People living in countryside do not celebrate
their birthdays at all.
