[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":177},["ShallowReactive",2],{"article-en-vietnamese-nh-vs-ng":3,"series-en-vietnamese-nh-vs-ng":126,"free-tools-en":137},{"id":4,"title":5,"alternates":6,"body":7,"chip":96,"cluster":97,"description":98,"extension":99,"faq":100,"keyword":113,"meta":114,"navigation":115,"path":116,"pillar":117,"seo":118,"sources":119,"stem":123,"updated":124,"__hash__":125},"blog_en\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fvietnamese-nh-vs-ng.md","nh vs ng in Vietnamese: at the Start and at the End",null,{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":89},"minimark",[10,14,19,34,38,42,65,68,71,75,82],[11,12,13],"p",{},"Two sounds every Vietnamese speaker keeps apart, at the start and at the end of a word.",[15,16,18],"h2",{"id":17},"at-the-start-ng-or-nh","At the start: ng or nh?",[11,20,21,25,26,29,30,33],{},[22,23,24],"strong",{},"ng"," closes at the back of the mouth, like the end of “sing”. ",[22,27,28],{},"nh"," presses the middle of the tongue to the\npalate, like “canyon”. ",[22,31,32],{},"ngh"," is the same sound as ng, written before i, e, ê.",[35,36],"contrast",{"note":37},"ng_nh_initial",[15,39,41],{"id":40},"at-the-end-ng-or-nh","At the end: -ng or -nh?",[11,43,44,45,48,49,52,53,56,57,60,61,64],{},"Same two places. After ",[22,46,47],{},"ê"," and ",[22,50,51],{},"i"," it's always -nh (ênh, inh); after ",[22,54,55],{},"a"," both exist: ",[22,58,59],{},"hàng"," ≠ ",[22,62,63],{},"hành",".",[35,66],{"note":67},"ng_nh",[11,69,70],{},"In a Southern accent, -nh comes close to -n (anh ≈ “an”), but it never becomes -ng.",[15,72,74],{"id":73},"more-spelling-of-this-kind","More spelling of this kind",[11,76,77,78,64],{},"ng or ngh, c or k, g or gh: ",[55,79,81],{"href":80},"\u002Fblog\u002Fvietnamese-spelling-rules","Vietnamese spelling rules",[11,83,84,85,64],{},"Every other look-alike pair (o \u002F ô, s \u002F x, hỏi \u002F ngã…), counted over the whole dictionary: ",[55,86,88],{"href":87},"\u002Ftools\u002Fvs","Vietnamese letters compared",{"title":90,"searchDepth":91,"depth":91,"links":92},"",2,[93,94,95],{"id":17,"depth":91,"text":18},{"id":40,"depth":91,"text":41},{"id":73,"depth":91,"text":74},"nh \u002F ng","sounds","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.","md",[101,104,107,110],{"q":102,"a":103},"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).",{"q":105,"a":106},"How do you pronounce nh?","Like the “ny” of “canyon”, or the Spanish ñ: the middle of the tongue against the palate.",{"q":108,"a":109},"Is ngh different from ng?","No, same sound: ngh is only the spelling before i, e and ê (nghe, nghĩ).",{"q":111,"a":112},"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.","nh vs ng vietnamese",{},true,"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fvietnamese-nh-vs-ng",false,{"title":5,"description":98},[120,121,122],"Every pair is a pair of real words from our {dictionary_words}-word dictionary that differ ONLY by ng or nh, at the start or at the end, found by the engine of the app's ⚔️ VS mode.","Which accent keeps them apart, and where a Southern -nh comes close to -n, comes from our accent model, checked with a native Southern teacher.","Every word plays in a Southern and a Northern voice (AI voices from vietsyllables.com, hosted with the author's permission).","en\u002Fblog\u002Fvietnamese-nh-vs-ng","2026-10-22","VdfexIOhrJ-pR0XBFWMeX0aBHkUU0EbG8RFW5iM2Zzc",[127,130,133,134],{"path":128,"title":129,"pillar":115},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fvietnamese-a-breve-vs-circumflex","ă vs â (and a) in Vietnamese: Three Vowels, Three Sounds",{"path":131,"title":132,"pillar":117},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fvietnamese-d-vs-dd","d vs đ in Vietnamese: Not the Same Sound at All",{"path":116,"title":5,"pillar":117},{"path":135,"title":136,"pillar":117},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fvietnamese-tr-vs-ch","tr vs ch in Vietnamese: One Sound, Two Spellings",[138,142,145,148,151,154,157,159,161,163,166,168,171,172,175],{"path":139,"cluster":140,"chip":141,"pillar":117},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-pronounce-nguyen","pronounce","Nguyễn",{"path":143,"cluster":140,"chip":144,"pillar":117},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-pronounce-pho","phở",{"path":146,"cluster":147,"chip":6,"pillar":115},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-read-vietnamese","read",{"path":149,"cluster":140,"chip":150,"pillar":117},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-say-thank-you-in-vietnamese","cảm ơn",{"path":152,"cluster":153,"chip":6,"pillar":115},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Flearn-southern-vietnamese","accents",{"path":155,"cluster":156,"chip":6,"pillar":117},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fsame-word-different-tones","marks",{"path":128,"cluster":97,"chip":158,"pillar":115},"ă \u002F â",{"path":160,"cluster":156,"chip":6,"pillar":115},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fvietnamese-accent-marks",{"path":131,"cluster":97,"chip":162,"pillar":117},"d \u002F đ",{"path":164,"cluster":140,"chip":165,"pillar":117},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fvietnamese-food-pronunciation","bánh mì",{"path":167,"cluster":147,"chip":6,"pillar":117},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fvietnamese-for-heritage-speakers",{"path":169,"cluster":140,"chip":170,"pillar":115},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fvietnamese-names","Thủy \u002F Thuỷ",{"path":116,"cluster":97,"chip":96,"pillar":117},{"path":173,"cluster":174,"chip":6,"pillar":115},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fvietnamese-spelling-rules","writing",{"path":135,"cluster":97,"chip":176,"pillar":117},"tr \u002F ch",1793180056994]