nh vs ng in Vietnamese: at the Start and at the End
ng is said at the back of the mouth, nh in the middle. Hear real word pairs like ngà and nhà, hàng and hành, in a Southern and a Northern voice.
Two sounds every Vietnamese speaker keeps apart, at the start and at the end of a word.
At the start: ng or nh?
ng closes at the back of the mouth, like the end of “sing”. nh presses the middle of the tongue to the palate, like “canyon”. ngh is the same sound as ng, written before i, e, ê.
ng/nghvsnh
ng or nh?
ng = the sound at the end of “sing”, put at the start, back of the mouth; nh = the “ny” of “canyon”, middle of the mouth.
81 pairs of words in the dictionary differ only by this sound.
Your accent always says them apart.
- nghỉto rest, to take a break≠nhỉisn't it? (tag question)
- nghìnthousand≠nhìnto look at
- nguyễnNguyen (surname)≠nhuyễnmashed, pureed
- ngạtto suffocate, choke≠nhạtbland, tasteless
- ngheto hear, to listen≠nheto bare (teeth)
- ngáyto snore≠nháyto blink, wink
- ngựahorse≠nhựaplastic
- ngổrice paddy herb, water hyssop≠nhổto spit
- ngắnshort≠nhắnto send a message
- ngănto prevent≠nhănwrinkled
At the end: -ng or -nh?
Same two places. After ê and i it's always -nh (ênh, inh); after a both exist: hàng ≠ hành.
ngvsnh
-ng or -nh?
-ng closes at the back of the mouth, -nh in the middle (against the palate). After ê and i it is -nh (ênh, inh); after a both exist (bang ≠ banh); elsewhere, -ng.
63 pairs of words in the dictionary differ only by this sound.
Your accent always says them apart.
- hànggoods, merchandise≠hànhgreen onion, scallion
- nhangincense≠nhanhfast, quick
- đángworthy, deserving≠đánhto hit, to beat
- mạngnetwork≠mạnhstrong, healthy
- làngvillage≠lànhintact, good
- trangpage≠tranhpainting
- bangstate (federal)≠banhball
- thángmonth≠thánhsaint, holy
- càngmore and more≠cànhbranch
- sangto cross over≠sanhto give birth
In a Southern accent, -nh comes close to -n (anh ≈ “an”), but it never becomes -ng.
More spelling of this kind
ng or ngh, c or k, g or gh: Vietnamese spelling rules.
Every other look-alike pair (o / ô, s / x, hỏi / ngã…), counted over the whole dictionary: Vietnamese letters compared.
Quick answers
How do you pronounce ng at the start of a word?
Like the end of English “sing”, but at the start: the back of the tongue closes. Ngà (ivory) is not nhà (house).
How do you pronounce nh?
Like the “ny” of “canyon”, or the Spanish ñ: the middle of the tongue against the palate.
Is ngh different from ng?
No, same sound: ngh is only the spelling before i, e and ê (nghe, nghĩ).
Does -nh sound like -n in the South?
Close to it: in a Southern accent anh comes close to “an”. It stays apart from -ng: hàng and hành are still two words.
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