Informal And Formal Ways To Say Thank You In Vietnamese
Learning how to say Hello and Thank You in Vietnamese is the basic but also an important thing you should consider to do when traveling to Vietnam. While saying ‘hello’ is to start a conversation and help you connect with a person, saying ‘thank you’ in their language is a good way to express your gratitude when they have done something for you.
In today’s lesson, I am gonna share with you how to say Thank you in Vietnamese and how to respond when someone thanks you.
How Do You Say Thank You In Vietnamese?
Saying ‘cám ơn’ or ‘cảm ơn’ to say thank you in the Vietnamese language. ‘Cám’ or ‘cảm’ means to feel. ‘Ơn’ means favor. ‘Cám ơn’ or ‘cảm ơn’ can be literally translated as ‘to feel favor’.
The two phrases have the same meaning but the tones of the words ‘cám’ and ‘cảm’ are different. While you should pronounce ‘cám’ with a high rising tone, ‘cảm’ should be spoken with a low rising tone.
The phrases also mean ‘thanks’ in English.
In the Vietnamese culture, people rarely say just ‘cám ơn’ or ‘cảm ơn’ because that sounds a bit too short. Also, if you say ‘cám ơn’, ‘cảm ơn’ to an elder person or to one who has a high social status, it can be considered rude or impolite.
How Do You Say Thank You Politely?
Include Personal Pronouns
Vietnamese people usually include personal pronouns in their conversation. Which pronouns you should use depend on the gender, the age difference, and the relationship between you and the listener. To say ‘thank you’ politely, you can say as follows:
Word of I + cám ơn / cảm ơn + Word of You
For example:
‘Anh cám ơn em!’ — Say this when you are a man and older than the listener because ‘Anh’ is the word for yourself and ’em’ is the pronoun for the listener.
‘Cháu cảm ơn bà!’ — In this case, the listener is an old woman who could be your grandma or who is at a similar age as your grandma.
Sometimes, the Word of I can be removed when you speak to people who are not much older than you.
Add Polite Articles
‘Dạ’ and ‘ạ’ are the two popular articles used to say thanks in Vietnamese in a polite way when you thank an elder person. ‘Dạ’ is put at the beginning of a sentence while ‘ạ’ is added to the end. For instance:
Dạ, cám ơn chú!
Dạ, con cảm ơn cô!
Em cám ơn anh ạ!
Con cảm ơn mẹ ạ!
‘Nhá’ or ‘nhé’ are usually added to the end of a sentence to soften it. You can use these articles when you express your gratitude to a younger person or who is at the same age as you. Please see some examples below:
Cám ơn em nhé!
Cám ơn bạn nhá!
Emphasize Your Gratitude In Vietnamese
Adding ‘nhiều‘, ‘rất nhiều’ or ‘nhiều lắm’ to the end of a sentence to say ‘thanks a lot’, ‘thank you so much’ or ‘thank you very much’. For example:
Cám ơn chị rất nhiều!
Cám ơn ông nhiều!
Cám ơn cô nhiều lắm!
Formal Ways To Say Thank You In Vietnamese
When you are in formal situations such as a meeting, a conference, or when you want to say thanks to your business partners, using the following formal phrases:
1. Trân trọng cám ơn / Trân trọng cảm ơn + personal pronoun
Example: Trân trọng cám ơn quý khách! (when you thank your customers)
2. Xin cám ơn / Xin cảm ơn + personal pronoun
‘Xin’ literally means ‘beg for something’. This word is added to say that the speaker really appreciates what the listener has done. Example: Xin cám ơn các anh!
3. Xin trân trọng cám ơn / Xin trân trọng cảm ơn
Example: Nhà trường xin trân trọng cảm ơn các vị đại biểu! (The school thanks to the guests)
4. Xin đa tạ / Xin cảm tạ
‘Đa tạ’ is an old word but it’s still used sometimes in Literature or songs. ‘Đa’ means a lot. ‘Tạ’ means thank you. ‘Đa tạ’ actually means ‘Thank you a lot’.
‘Cảm’ is ‘to feel’. So, ‘cảm tạ’ is used to say ‘to feel grateful’. Again, this phrase is rarely used in daily conversation.
5. Xin chân thành cám ơn
‘Chân thành’ means sincerely. You can understand the sentence ‘Xin chân thành cám ơn!’ as the speaker can feel really thankful to the listener with all of his or her heart.
Examples Of Thank You In Different Situations
- Thank you — Cảm ơn / Cám ơn
- Thank you very much — Cám ơn bạn rất nhiều
- Thanks for your kind words — Cám ơn bạn vì những lời tốt đẹp
- Thank you for coming — Cám ơn bạn đã đến
- Thank you for your consideration — Cám ơn bạn đã cân nhắc
- Thank you for your feedback — Cám ơn phản hồi của bạn
- I really appreciate your help — Tôi thực sự rất cảm kích
- I have learned a lot thanks to you — Tôi đã học được rất nhiều nhờ có bạn
Responses To ‘Thank You’ In Vietnamese
When someone thanks you, it is better to respond to them than to be quiet. Like in English, you will say ‘you are welcome’ or ‘no problem’ when someone gives a thank you to you. In Vietnamese, people will say one of the following phrases:
Không có chi / Không có gì / Có gì đâu!
These phrases literally mean ‘no problem’.
People sometimes say ‘OK’ or ‘Uhm’ when they talk with their friends or people whom they know well.
In a formal case, people will say ‘rất hân hạnh’ which means ‘it’s my honor’. For example, a hotel manager will say to the hotel’s guest ‘Rất hân hạnh được đón tiếp quý khách!’.
Saying thank you in Vietnamese to a native Vietnamese person is necessary to show your gratitude and respect for what he or she has done. Together with greeting Vietnamese people in their own language, you will definitely open up your chance to make friends with local people. Learn more Vietnamese common phrases from the Ling app to prepare yourself for a trip to this beautiful country. You will be surprised by the fast progress you get from learning with the monkey app.
Original blog post: https://ling-app.com/vi/thank-you-in-vietnamese/
