How to say thank you in Vietnamese the right way

Today, let’s learn how to say thank you in Vietnamese the right way.

“Thank you” is often translated as “cảm ơn” in Vietnamese. You may have also already seen such translation online and in some language courses. If you suddenly ask a random Vietnamese person how to say thank you or what “thank you” means and their language, he or she will most likely answer “cảm ơn.”

But is that how Vietnamese people say “thank you” to each other?

Not really, because there is no “you” in “cảm ơn,” and we generally do not say “cảm ơn” without addressing the other person or people.

Without addressing the person or people you are saying “cảm ơn” to, “cảm ơn” should be translated as “thanks” in my opinion.

Without addressing the person or people you are saying “cảm ơn” to, in some situations however, it can be perceived as being rude, especially when talking to someone who is much older than you are.

For example:

In Vietnam, a kid will not say “cảm ơn” to their teachers or parents. Saying only “cảm ơn” to their teacher or parents can be perceived as disrepectful. A kid will say “cảm ơn cô” to their female teacher, “cảm ơn thầy” to their male teacher, “cảm ơn mẹ” to their mother and “cảm ơn ba” to their father. And depending on where you are or where the person you’re talking to comes from in Vietnam, they may use different word for mother and father.

Sounds complicated right?

That is probably why you often see simple translation of “thank you” as “cảm ơn.”

The right way

The right way to say “thank you” in Vietnamese is to say “cảm ơn” and address the person or people that you are saying thank you when you’re talking face-to-face.

Unfortunately, there is no one-word equivalent for you in Vietnamese. To learn more about how to say “you” in Vietnamese, you can refer to this post Addressing people: why “I” doesn’t simply mean “tôi” and “you” doesn’t simply mean “bạn” in Vietnamese.

Once you have learned how to address others in Vietnamese, let’s see some examples.

Cảm ơn James.

Cảm ơn chị.

Cảm ơn anh.

Cảm ơn em.

Cảm ơn ông.

Cảm ơn chú.

Cảm ơn bà.

Cảm ơn bác.

Cảm ơn cô.

Cảm ơn các bạn.

The above examples do not cover all situations. Depending on who you are talking to, you may use different words to address different people.

Cảm ơn các bạn đã đọc và ủng hộ trang web này!