Vietnamese Tones with Real Words
Vietnamese has six tones, and one syllable changes meaning with each: ma (mah, level) is ghost, má (mah, rising) is cheek and mạ (mah, heavy drop) is rice seedling. Below are 32 cards in nine groups: the six tones on ma, real words for each tone, pairs in a sentence and how the South says hỏi and ngã. The audio is a Northern voice, so the tones follow the Northern standard.
Vietnamese Tones with Real Words
Teaches the six Northern Vietnamese tones and their marks with the classic ma set, everyday words for each tone and minimal pairs like bán and bạn. Includes a note on how the South merges hỏi and ngã.
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Six Tones on Ma
| Vietnamese | Pronunciation | Meaning | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| ma | mah (level) | Ngang tone, no mark. Voice stays level at a mid to high pitch, with no rise or fall. Meaning: ghost. Start here: the other five ma words are the same syllable on a different tone. | |
| mà | mah (falling) | Huyền tone, marked with a grave accent, as in à. Voice starts a little low and falls gently, relaxed and a bit breathy. Meaning: but, yet. Also links a clause, like that or which. | |
| má | mah (rising) | Sắc tone, marked with an acute accent, as in á. Voice starts mid and rises high. Meaning: cheek. In the South, má also means mom. | |
| mả | mah (dipping) | Hỏi tone, marked with a small hook above the vowel, as in ả. Voice dips low, then comes back up a little at the end. Meaning: grave, tomb. Most often heard in mồ mả, graves. | |
| mã | mah (broken rising) | Ngã tone, marked with a tilde, as in ã. Voice rises, breaks for a moment in the throat, then jumps higher. Meaning: code, as in mã QR. In older Sino-Vietnamese words it also means horse. The everyday word for horse is ngựa. | |
| mạ | mah (heavy drop) | Nặng tone, marked with a dot below the vowel, as in ạ. Voice drops low and stops short with a tight throat. Meaning: rice seedling. In parts of Central Vietnam, mạ also means mom. |
Ngang: Level
| Vietnamese | Pronunciation | Meaning | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| mua | moo-uh (level) | Ngang tone, no mark. Voice stays level at a mid to high pitch, with no rise or fall. Meaning: to buy. Pair: mùa, season, on the falling tone. | |
| tôi | toy (level) | Ngang tone, no mark. Voice stays level at a mid to high pitch, with no rise or fall. Meaning: I, me. The safe, neutral word for yourself with strangers. Pair: tối, evening, on the rising tone. | |
| ba | bah (level) | Ngang tone, no mark. Voice stays level at a mid to high pitch, with no rise or fall. Meaning: three. In the South, ba also means dad. Pair: bà, grandmother, on the falling tone. |
Huyền: Falling
| Vietnamese | Pronunciation | Meaning | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| mùa | moo-uh (falling) | Huyền tone, marked with a grave accent, as in à. Voice starts a little low and falls gently, relaxed and a bit breathy. Meaning: season. Pair: mua, to buy, with no mark. | |
| bà | bah (falling) | Huyền tone, marked with a grave accent, as in à. Voice starts a little low and falls gently, relaxed and a bit breathy. Meaning: grandmother. Also the polite word for you when you speak to an older woman. Pair: ba, three. | |
| chờ | chuh (falling) | Huyền tone, marked with a grave accent, as in à. Voice starts a little low and falls gently, relaxed and a bit breathy. Meaning: to wait. Chờ and đợi both mean wait and are common everywhere. Pair: chợ, market, on the heavy tone. | |
| chà | chah (falling) | Huyền tone, marked with a grave accent, as in à. Voice starts a little low and falls gently, relaxed and a bit breathy. Meaning: wow, well. A word of surprise or praise. As a verb it means to scrub. Pair: chả, on the dipping tone. |
Sắc: Rising
| Vietnamese | Pronunciation | Meaning | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| bán | bahn (rising) | Sắc tone, marked with an acute accent, as in á. Voice starts mid and rises high. Meaning: to sell. Pair: bạn, friend, on the heavy tone. Listen for the rise on bán and the short drop on bạn. | |
| đá | dah (rising) | Sắc tone, marked with an acute accent, as in á. Voice starts mid and rises high. Meaning: ice. Also stone, and to kick. Pair: đã, already, on the broken tone. | |
| tối | toy (rising) | Sắc tone, marked with an acute accent, as in á. Voice starts mid and rises high. Meaning: evening. Also dark. Tối nay means tonight. Pair: tôi, I, with no mark. | |
| phố | foh (rising) | Sắc tone, marked with an acute accent, as in á. Voice starts mid and rises high. Meaning: street, in a town. Phố cổ is the Old Quarter in Hanoi. Pair: phở, the noodle soup, on the dipping tone. | |
| mắt | mut (short rising) | Sắc tone, marked with an acute accent, as in á. The word ends in t, so the rise is short and quick. Meaning: eye. Pair: mặt, face, on the heavy tone. |
Hỏi: Dipping
| Vietnamese | Pronunciation | Meaning | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| phở | fuh (dipping) | Hỏi tone, marked with a small hook above the vowel, as in ả. Voice dips low, then comes back up a little at the end. Meaning: phở, the noodle soup. Pair: phố, street, on the rising tone. Phở does not rhyme with English go: the vowel is like the u in fun. | |
| chả | chah (dipping) | Hỏi tone, marked with a small hook above the vowel, as in ả. Voice dips low, then comes back up a little at the end. Meaning: a grilled or fried meat or fish patty or roll, as in bún chả and chả cá. Northern casual speech also uses chả for not. Pair: chà, wow. | |
| sửa | suh-uh (dipping) | Hỏi tone, marked with a small hook above the vowel, as in ả. Voice dips low, then comes back up a little at the end. Meaning: to fix, to repair. Pair: sữa, milk, on the broken tone. In the South these two sound alike. | |
| cảm ơn | kahm uhn (dip, then level) | Hỏi tone, marked with a small hook above the vowel, as in ả. Voice dips low, then comes back up a little at the end. The tone sits on cảm. Ơn has no mark and stays level. Meaning: thank you. Listen for the dip on the first word. |
Ngã: Broken Rising
| Vietnamese | Pronunciation | Meaning | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| sữa | suh-uh (broken rising) | Ngã tone, marked with a tilde, as in ã. Voice rises, breaks for a moment in the throat, then jumps higher. Meaning: milk. Pair: sửa, to fix, on the dipping tone. | |
| đã | dah (broken rising) | Ngã tone, marked with a tilde, as in ã. Voice rises, breaks for a moment in the throat, then jumps higher. Meaning: already. It marks something done in the past. Pair: đá, ice, on the rising tone. | |
| cũng | koong (broken rising) | Ngã tone, marked with a tilde, as in ã. Voice rises, breaks for a moment in the throat, then jumps higher. Meaning: also, too. |
Nặng: Heavy Drop
| Vietnamese | Pronunciation | Meaning | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| bạn | bahn (heavy drop) | Nặng tone, marked with a dot below the vowel, as in ạ. Voice drops low and stops short with a tight throat. Meaning: friend. Also the word for you with someone your own age. Pair: bán, to sell, on the rising tone. | |
| chợ | chuh (heavy drop) | Nặng tone, marked with a dot below the vowel, as in ạ. Voice drops low and stops short with a tight throat. Meaning: market. Pair: chờ, to wait, on the falling tone. | |
| mặt | mut (short heavy drop) | Nặng tone, marked with a dot below the vowel, as in ạ. The word ends in t, so it is very short: a low drop cut off at once. Meaning: face. Pair: mắt, eye, on the rising tone. |
Pairs in a Sentence
| Vietnamese | Pronunciation | Meaning | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tối nay tôi bận. | toy (rising) nai (level) toy (level) bun (heavy drop) | I am busy tonight. Tối has the rising tone and tôi has no mark, so the same syllable is said two ways in one sentence. Bận, busy, has the heavy tone. Listen for rise, level, level, then a short drop. | |
| Bạn tôi bán bánh mì. | bahn (heavy drop) toy (level) bahn (rising) bine (rising, the nh is soft like the ny in canyon) mee (falling) | My friend sells bánh mì. Bạn has the heavy tone, then bán and bánh both rise. Listen for the short low drop on the first word and two rises after it. | |
| Chờ tôi ở chợ nhé. | chuh (falling) toy (level) uh (dipping) chuh (heavy drop) nyeh (rising) | Wait for me at the market, okay. Chờ falls, chợ drops short and heavy. Ở has the dipping tone. Nhé softens the request and is used everywhere; Southern speakers often say nha. |
Hỏi and Ngã in the South
| Vietnamese | Pronunciation | Meaning | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dấu hỏi và dấu ngã | zoh hoy vah zoh ngah | The hỏi mark and the ngã mark. In Northern speech, and on this deck's audio, they are two tones: hỏi dips, ngã rises with a break. In the South both are said as one tone, a low dip that rises again, so sửa (fix) and sữa (milk) sound alike. Southern speakers tell them apart by context and spelling. The audio is a Northern voice and does not model Southern speech. |
Frequently asked questions
How many tones does Vietnamese have?
Six in the Northern standard: ngang, huyền, sắc, hỏi, ngã and nặng. Southern speech merges hỏi and ngã, so it has five. The tone is part of the word. Ma and má are two different words.
What do the Vietnamese tone marks mean?
Each mark shows the tone of the syllable. No mark is ngang, level. The grave accent in à is huyền, falling. The acute accent in á is sắc, rising. The hook in ả is hỏi, dipping. The tilde in ã is ngã, rising with a break. The dot below in ạ is nặng, a short heavy drop.
Is the audio on these cards Northern or Southern?
Northern. The audio is Google text-to-speech with a Northern Vietnamese voice, and it does not model Southern speech. One card explains how the South says hỏi and ngã as a single tone.
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