Vietnamese pronouns
In general, a Vietnamese pronoun can serve as a noun phrase. In Vietnamese, a pronoun usually connotes a degree of family relationship or kinship. In polite speech, the aspect of kinship terminology is used when referring to oneself, the audience, or a third party. These terms might differ slightly in different regions. Many of them are derived from Chinese loanwords, but have acquired the additional grammatical function of being pronouns over the years.
Vietnamese terms of reference can reveal the social relationship between the speaker and the person being referred to, differences in age, and even the attitude of the speaker toward that person. Thus a speaker must carefully assess these factors to decide the appropriate term. It's not unusual for strangers to ask each other about age when they first meet, in order to establish the proper terms of address to use. If the speaker does not know the stranger there is a certain pronoun that they can address the speaker in order to sound respectful.
True pronouns
True pronouns are categorized into two classes depending on whether they can be preceded by the plural marker chúng, bọn or các. Like other Asian pronominal systems, Vietnamese pronouns indicate the social status between speakers and other persons in the discourse in addition to grammatical person and number.The table below shows the first class of pronouns that can be preceded by pluralizer.
| Singular | Plural | |
| First person | tôi | chúng tôi |
| First person | ta | chúng ta |
| First person | tao | chúng tao |
| First person | mình | mình or chúng mình |
| Second Person | mày or mi | bay, chúng mày, tụi mày, chúng bay |
| Third Person | nó | chúng nó |
The first person tôi is the only pronoun that can be used in polite speech. The first person ta is often used when talking to oneself as in a soliloquy, but also indicates a higher status of the speaker. The other superior-to-inferior forms in the first and second persons are commonly used in familiar social contexts, such as among family members ; these forms are otherwise considered impolite. The third person form nó is considerably less arrogant than the second person forms tao, mày, mi, bay. The pronoun mình is used only in intimate relationships, such as between husband and wife.
The pronominal forms in the table above can be modified with chúng as in chúng mày, chúng nó. There is an exclusive/inclusive plural distinction in the first person: chúng tôi and chúng tao are exclusive, chúng ta and chúng mình are inclusive. Some of the forms can be used to refer to a plural referent, resulting in pairs with overlapping reference.
The other class of pronouns are known as "absolute" pronouns. These cannot be modified with the pluralizer chúng. Many of these forms are literary and archaic, particularly in the first and second person.
| Singular | Plural | |
| First person | min | choa |
| First person | qua | choa |
| First person | thiếp | choa |
| First person | trẫm | choa |
| Second Person | mi | – |
| Second Person | bậu | – |
| Second Person | chàng | – |
| Third Person | y | người ta |
| Third Person | hắn | người ta |
| Third Person | nghỉ | người ta |
| Third Person | va | người ta |
Unlike the first type of pronoun, these absolute third person forms refer only to animate referents. The form y can be preceded by the pluralizer in southern dialects in which case it is more respectful than nó. The absolute pronoun người ta has a wider range of reference as "they, people in general, one, we, someone".
Kinship terms
Kinship terms are the most popular ways to refer to oneself and others. Anyone can be referred to using kinship terms, not just people who are related. The Vietnamese kinship terms are quite complex. While there is some flexibility as to which kinship terms should be used for people not related to the speaker, there is often only one term to use for people related by blood or marriage, for up to three generations. Some of the kinship terms are:| Term | Reciprocal | Literal meaning | Non-kinship usage | Note |
| cha | con | father | a priest | May sound too literary for contemporary use. Preferred in literary contexts. Many other terms are preferred in actual use, depending on the dialect: ba, bố, tía, thầy. Archaic: bác, áng. |
| thầy | con | father | a male teacher | Only the "male teacher" sense is universal. The "father" sense is only dialectal in the north. |
| mẹ | con | mother | mẹ is the Northern form, má is used in the South. Many other terms are used, depending on the dialect: u, bầm, mạ, má. Archaic: nạ. | |
| anh | em | older brother; parent's older sibling's son | a non-elderly man; a man who's a little older, like one's own "big brother"; a man in a heterosexual relationship | |
| chị | em | older sister; parent's older sibling's daughter | a non-elderly woman; a woman who's a little older, like one's own "big sister" | |
| em | anh or chị | younger sibling; parent's younger sibling's child | a person who's a little younger, like one's own "little sibling"; a student; a woman in a heterosexual relationship | |
| con | cha, mẹ, bà, etc. | biological child or grandchild | a much younger person, usually in southern use | |
| cháu | ông, bà, bác, chú, etc. | grandchild; niece; nephew; cousin of junior generations | a much younger person, usually in northern use | |
| chắt | cụ | great-grandchild | ||
| ông | cháu or con | grandfather | an old man; formally, a middle-aged man | Paternal and maternal grandfathers are differentiated as ông nội and ông ngoại, respectively. Nội and ngoại are also used for short in the south. |
| bà | cháu or con | grandmother | an old woman; formally, a middle-aged woman | Paternal and maternal grandmothers are differentiated as bà nội and bà ngoại, respectively Nội and ngoại are also used for short in the south.. |
| cô | cháu | father's younger sister | a female teacher; a woman who's a little younger than one's parent, like their "little sister"; a young adult woman | In some dialects, literal meaning is restricted to father's younger sister; dialectally also o. When paired with chú, always precedes it, as in cô chú. |
| chú | cháu | father's younger brother; dìs husband | a man who's a little younger than one's parent, like their "little brother" | in some dialects, literal meaning is restricted to father's younger brother |
| thím | cháu | chús wife | informally, an effeminate man | dialectally also mợ or mự |
| bác | cháu | a parent's older sibling; his/her spouse | a person who's a little older than one's parents | in some dialects, can also refer to father's elder brother or sister as well as mother's elder brother or sister; like em, modified by trai or gái |
| dì | cháu | mother's younger sister; stepmother | in some dialects, literal meaning is restricted to mother's younger sister | |
| cậu | cháu | mother's younger brother | in some dialects, literal meaning is restricted to mother's younger brother | |
| cậu | tớ | friend | ||
| mợ | cháu | cậus wife | in some dialects, used by the husband to refer to his wife, children to refer to mother, or parents-in-law to refer to a daughter-in-law | |
| dượng | cháu | the husband of cô or dì; stepfather | dialectally also trượng | |
| cụ/cố | cháu | great-grandparent | a very old person | |
| sơ | cháu | great-great-grandparent | ||
| họ | either the paternal or maternal extended family | they | third person plural for a group of people |
Kinship terms are "inherited" from parents if it is unclear what to refer to someone. For example, two cousins whose mothers are sisters will call each other using the kinship terms appropriate for siblings: the one whose mother is younger will have a lower rank than the one whose mother is older regardless of their ages. Sometimes, old people assume the rank of their children in referring to others . Spouses have equal rank in each corresponding side. If two people are related to each other in more than one way, the rank of the closest relationship is used. This hierarchy may lead to situations in which an older person addresses a younger person using a term usually used for older people, such as ông trẻ. This phenomenon is highlighted in a Vietnamese proverb: Bé bằng củ khoai, cứ vai mà gọi.
Singular kinship terms can be pluralized using the plural marker các, as in các anh. When speaking to an audience in a formal context, kinship terms are often strung together to cover common individual relationships: các anh chị em refers to an audience of roughly the same age, while các '', sometimes abbreviated ', refers to an audience of all ages.
Non-kinship terms used as pronouns
In Vietnamese, virtually any noun used for a person can be used as a pronoun. These terms usually don't serve multiple roles like kinship terms. Words such as "doctor", "teacher", "owner", etc. can be used as a second-person personal pronoun when necessary. When referring to themselves, Vietnamese speakers, like speakers of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages, tend to deprecate their position while elevating the audience. While many of these terms are now obsolete, some remain in widespread usage. The most prominent of these words is tôi, literally meaning "servant". It is used as a fairly neutral term for "I". Tớ, also meaning "servant", is also popular among young people to refer to themselves with close friends.Pronouns that elevate the audience still in use include quý khách, quý vị. Bạn is also popular among young people to call each other.
Vietnamese speakers also refer to themselves and others by name where it would be strange if used in English, eliminating the need for personal pronouns altogether. For example, consider the following conversation:
Directly translated into English, the conversation would run thus:
A normal translation of the conversation into English would be:
While always referring to oneself or the audience by name would be considered strange in English, in Vietnamese it is considered friendly and slightly respectful, especially between acquaintances of different sexes who are not very close, or between young girls. Referring to oneself by name is also the preferred way used by music artists, or even actors, models, etc. However, in a kinship context, people with a lower rank cannot address their superiors by name.
Obsolete pronouns
Some pronouns are no longer commonly used, such as the royal we trẫm. Many of them are no longer applicable because they refer to royalties, and Vietnam is no longer a monarchy. Some archaic pronouns include:- trẫm – used by the monarch to refer to him or herself, adopted like the Japanese chin from its use by the Chinese emperors following the example of Shi Huangdi
- khanh – used by the monarch to address a favored subject
- bệ hạ – used by subjects when addressing the monarch; compare English "your majesty"
- thị – she
Pairs