The World of Languages · Austroasiatic
Vietnamese · Tiếng Việt
A tonal language written in a Latin alphabet full of diacritics. It once used Chinese-based characters (chữ Nôm).
- 86 million native speakers
- 97 million speakers in total
- Latin script
- FSI Category III · 44 weeks
- Official in 1 country
Where Vietnamese is spoken
Tap or hover over a country. Colours show the language's status, based on Unicode CLDR territory data (population estimates mix sources and years).
Top countries by speakers
- Vietnam · Việt NamOfficial language · 91M (86%)
- United States · Hoa KỳWidely spoken · 1.2M (0.34%)
Key numbers
- Native (L1) speakers
- 86 million
- Second-language (L2) speakers
- 11 million
- Total speakers
- 97 million
- Source
- Ethnologue (2026), via Wikipedia
Vietnamese at a glance
Vietnamese (tiếng Việt) is an Austroasiatic language primarily spoken throughout Vietnam where it is the official language. It belongs to the Vietic subgroup of the Austroasiatic language family. Vietnamese is spoken natively by around 86 million people, and as a second language by 11 million people, several times as many as the rest of the Austroasiatic family combined. It is the native language of the Viet people and functions as the second or first language for other ethnicities in Vietnam; it is also used by the Vietnamese diaspora worldwide.
From the Wikipedia article Vietnamese language (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Name in Vietnamese
- Tiếng Việt
- Family
- AustroasiaticVieticViet-Muong
- Writing system
- Latin alphabet (chữ Quốc ngữ) with tone marks
- Direction
- Left to right
- Tones
- 6 tones in the Northern standard
- Official in
- Vietnam
- Codes
- ISO 639-3
vie· Glottologviet1252· Q9199 - Writing sample
Tất cả mọi người sinh ra đều được tự do và bình đẳng về nhân phẩm và quyền. Mọi con người đều được tạo hoá ban cho lý trí và lương tâm và cần phải đối xử với nhau trong tình bằng hữu.
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights…”
Linguistic profile
How hard is Vietnamese for English speakers?
The US Foreign Service Institute puts Vietnamese in Category III: about 44 weeks (1100 class hours) of full-time study to reach professional working proficiency.
Source: FSI language learning timelines. See all languages ranked: hardest · easiest.
Feature values from the World Atlas of Language Structures (WALS Online, CC BY 4.0).
The Vietnamese script
Latin alphabet (chữ Quốc ngữ) with tone marks. Tap a character to hear it (your device reads the letter name or sound).
Standard letters from Unicode CLDR exemplar characters.
Useful Vietnamese phrases with pronunciation
Numbers 1–10
- một
- hai
- ba
- bốn
- năm
- sáu
- bảy
- tám
- chín
- mười
Days of the week
- Mon Thứ Hai
- Tue Thứ Ba
- Wed Thứ Tư
- Thu Thứ Năm
- Fri Thứ Sáu
- Sat Thứ Bảy
- Sun Chủ Nhật
Everyday words
- water nước
- cat mèo
- dog chó
- coffee cà phê
- beer bia
- bread bánh mì
- book sách
Phrases and words checked against Wiktionary; days and months from Unicode CLDR. Audio uses your browser's built-in Vietnamese voice when available.
Dialects and varieties
Northern (Hà Nội)
Hanoi and the north
The basis of the standard; 6 tones. d, gi and r all sound like “z”.
Central (Huế)
Huế and central provinces
Often the hardest for outsiders, with fewer distinct tones and local words like “mô” (where) and “răng” (why).
Southern (Saigon)
Ho Chi Minh City and the south
Five tones (hỏi and ngã merge); “dạ” for yes, “vâng” in the north. Most diaspora speakers use southern speech.
Hear the dialects
Fun words, untranslatables
thương
A tender, caring love, used for family and close ones and wider than romantic love.
nhậu
Drinking with friends over plates of snacks, a whole social ritual.
Curious facts
- The modern alphabet, chữ Quốc ngữ, was developed by 17th-century Portuguese and French missionaries, notably Alexandre de Rhodes. It became official in the 20th century.
- A single syllable like “ma” changes meaning with tone: ma (ghost), má (mother, southern), mà (but), mả (tomb), mã (horse), mạ (rice seedling).
- Vietnamese words don't change form: no plurals, no conjugations, no genders.
- Around 60% of Vietnamese vocabulary is estimated to have Chinese roots (Sino-Vietnamese).
Famous Vietnamese-speaking voices
Singers & musicians
Writers & poets
Film & TV
Other famous figures
Descriptions from Wikidata; photos from Wikimedia Commons under the licences shown.
Vietnamese culture now
Learn Vietnamese on YouTube
Free lessons from teachers and channels with Vietnamese courses. Videos load only when you press play.
The story of the language
Quick quiz: how well do you know Vietnamese?
Where to learn Vietnamese
The Endless Book
Read text you can understand, in the style of your favourite author and genre. About 30 languages.
LangMagicLangMagic Speak
Speaking lessons built around your topics, from materials you choose.
LangMagicLangMagic Meet
A virtual meeting platform built for language lessons, with follow-up exercises.
FreeWikivoyage Vietnamese phrasebook
Free travel phrasebook with pronunciation guide
FreeWikibooks: Vietnamese
Free, open textbook
FreeOmniglot: Vietnamese
Script, pronunciation and useful phrases
FreeWiktionary: Vietnamese dictionary
Free multilingual dictionary
Sources
- Speaker numbers: Ethnologue (2026), via Wikipedia.
- Countries, populations, alphabets, days and months: Unicode CLDR 46.
- Classification: Glottolog 5.3. Grammar features: WALS Online.
- Introduction: Wikipedia, Vietnamese language (CC BY-SA 4.0). People and culture: Wikipedia and Wikidata. Images: Wikimedia Commons.
- Writing sample: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1, from the Unicode UDHR collection. Phrases and words: Wiktionary. Difficulty: US Foreign Service Institute.
- Map: Natural Earth via world-atlas (public domain).