Vietnamese School Lesson 2 - Hello, Thank you / Chào bạn, Cảm ơn

Chào các bạn!
In the previous lesson, I explained how to say "you" in Vietnamese. In this lesson, we'll put your "you"-saying skills to use when we learn how to say "hello" and "thank you"!

Hello = Chào / Xin chào
It may seem a little bit abrupt or even rude just to say "chào" by itself. To fix this, Vietnamese speakers either attach the other person's appropriate familial pronoun onto the end of the sentence (e.g., anh, chị, em, etc.), or say "xin chào".

[Click here to access the previous lesson if you don't remember the familial pronouns that were taught.]

"Xin chào" is considered more formal than "chào [pronoun]", but if you don't want to worry about using the correct pronoun, just say "xin chào".

Sample Conversation

Hải: Chào, cô!

Ha: Chào, cháu!

Next, we will learn how to say "thank you" in Vietnamese.

Thank you = Cảm ơn / Xin cảm ơn. 

Unlike "chào," you can simply say "cảm ơn" by itself without seeming too abrupt or rude. However, it is still more polite to attach a familial pronoun onto the end of the sentence or say xin cảm ơn.
Ex) Cảm ơn, chỉ! = (Talking to a female within 10 years older) Thank you!

But how do you respond to "[xin] cảm ơn"?

The most common response to "cảm ơn" is "không có gì". "Không có gì" literally means "there's nothing", but I like to think of it more as something along the lines of "no problem" or "it's nothing"!

Sample Conversation

Hải: Cảm ơn, cô!

Ha: Không có gì!

Today, we learned how to say "hello" and "thank you" in Vietnamese! Chào