Today in this post, we will learn how to say seasons in Vietnamese.
Mùa
Mùa means season in Vietnamese. Because the spelling of Vietnamese words doesn’t change whether they are in singular or plural forms like in English, it is still mùa in Vietnamese whether it is singular or plural.
To indicate one season, we say “một mùa.” To indicate many season, we say “nhiều mùa.”
Xuân
Xuân means spring in Vietnamese. People often say “mùa xuân” when they want to emphasize that they’re talking about the season. But generally, when you just say “xuân”, people understand that you are talking about spring.
For example, very popular Vietnamese song that you will hear everywhere when it’s close to Tết has an opening line as “Xuân, xuân ơi, xuân đến rồi” (composed by artist Minh Kỳ).
The closest translation would be “Spring, hey spring, spring has come.”
However, ơi is a word to make it sound endearing when you’re calling someone. For example, “mẹ ơi” is an endearing way to call out for mom. Because there is no equivalent word in English, “hey” is the closest translation but the endearment is sometimes lost in translation.
Hè/hạ
Hè or hạ means summer in Vietnamese. People often say “mùa hè” when they want to emphasize that they’re talking about the season. But generally, when you just say “hè”, people understand that you are talking about summer.
For example: nghỉ hè (summer break).
Thu
Thu means fall (season) in Vietnamese. People often say “mùa thu” when they want to emphasize that they’re talking about the season. But generally, when you just say “thu”, people understand that you are talking about fall season.
Example: tết trung thu (Mid-Autumn festival).
Đông
Đông means winter in Vietnamese. People often say “mùa đông” when they want to emphasize that they’re talking about the season.
Đông by itself also means frozen or east. Examples: đồ ăn đông lạnh (frozen food), phía đông (East). Therefore, while đông is understood as winter when you say “xuân, hạ, thu, đông” (spring, summer, fall, winter) or when you’re clearly talking about season, it is best to use “mùa” to emphasize that you’re talking about season.
Does Vietnam have four seasons?
You may be wondering if there are four seasons in Vietnam. The answer is “depends on where in Vietnam.”
Northern regions may have four seasons. It can get pretty cold in the winter and there may be snow. But in the southern regions, they mostly have two main seasons: rainy season and dry season. It rains often in rainy season and is cooler, and it is hotter in dry season with little to no rain.
We have learned how to say four seasons in Vietnamese. Now how do we say rainy season and dry season in Vietnamese?
Mùa mưa
Mùa mưa means rainy season. Mùa means season, and mưa means rain (n,v) or rainy.
Mưa itself has its own meaning, which is rain. Therefore, this is where you must use the word mùa to indicate the season. You can’t skip it like you do with xuân, hạ, thu and đông.
Mùa khô/mùa nắng
Mùa khô means dry season. It is sometimes called mùa nắng, which literally translates to sunny season. Here, khô means dry and nắng means sunny.
This is also where you must use the word mùa to indicate season as khô and nắng have their own meaning when standing alone.
Review
Now let’s review the new vocabulary we have learned in this post.
| mùa | season |
| (mùa) xuân | spring |
| (mùa) hạ, hè | summer |
| (mùa) thu | fall, autumn |
| (mùa) đông | winter |
| mùa mưa | rainy season |
| mùa khô, mùa nắng | dry season, sunny season |
Quiz
Now, without looking at the table in the review session, do you remember the words we have learned?
Test your vocabulary with this short quiz.
