Vietnamese Alphabet
Vietnamese alphabet: 29 letters with diacritics
Can recognize all 29 Vietnamese letters and understand the difference between standard Latin and Vietnamese-specific letters
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Bảng chữ cái tiếng Việt có 29 chữ cái.
The Vietnamese alphabet has 29 letters.
Đ và D là hai chữ cái khác nhau.
Đ and D are two different letters.
Tiếng Việt không có chữ F, J, W, Z.
Vietnamese does not have the letters F, J, W, Z.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Bảng chữ cái tiếng Việt — The Vietnamese Alphabet
Vietnamese uses the Latin alphabet (called chữ Quốc ngữ), making it one of the easiest Asian languages to read for Western learners. The alphabet has 29 letters — the standard 26 minus F, J, W, Z, plus Ă, Â, Đ, Ê, Ô, Ơ, Ư.
| Letter | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A a | /aː/ like 'father' | an (peace) |
| Ă ă | /a/ shorter 'a' | ăn (eat) |
| Â â | /ə/ like 'uh' | ân (grace) |
| Đ đ | /d/ like English 'd' | đi (go) |
| Ê ê | /e/ like 'bed' | ếch (frog) |
| Ô ô | /o/ like 'go' | ông (grandfather) |
| Ơ ơ | /əː/ longer 'uh' | ơi (hey!) |
| Ư ư | /ɯ/ unrounded 'oo' | ưng (agree) |
Important: Vietnamese d and đ are different letters! In the North, d sounds like English 'z', while đ sounds like English 'd'. In the South, d sounds like 'y'.
No F, J, W, Z: These letters only appear in loanwords (wifi, jazz). Vietnamese uses ph for /f/ and gi for /z/.
Common Error Patterns
Confused D and Đ sounds
Remember: Đ = English 'd', D = 'z' (North) or 'y' (South). The crossbar on Đ marks the 'real d' sound.
Confused the three a-vowels (a, ă, â) or ô/ơ
A = long 'ah', Ă = short 'a', Â = 'uh' (schwa). Ô = 'oh', Ơ = longer 'uh'.
Bảng chữ cái tiếng Việt có 29 chữ cái.
The Vietnamese alphabet has 29 letters.
Vietnamese uses a Latin-based script called chữ Quốc ngữ, with extra letters Ă, Â, Đ, Ê, Ô, Ơ, Ư.
Đ và D là hai chữ cái khác nhau.
Đ and D are two different letters.
Đ sounds like English 'd' while D sounds like 'z' (North) or 'y' (South) — a common trap for beginners!
Tiếng Việt không có chữ F, J, W, Z.
Vietnamese does not have the letters F, J, W, Z.
Vietnamese uses PH for /f/, GI for /z/. Letters F, J, W, Z only appear in foreign loanwords.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises