tr vs ch in Vietnamese: One Sound, Two Spellings
In most accents tr and ch sound the same: trà or chà, trồng or chồng. Hear the pairs in a Southern and a Northern voice, and how to remember which.
tr and ch are written apart, but most people say them the same. So you read them by heart: here are the pairs you'll meet most.
tr or ch?
In careful speech, tr curls the tongue up, ch keeps it flat. In the North and in much of the South, they merge.
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tr or ch?
tr is said with the tongue curled up (a deep “ch”); ch with the tongue flat. In the North and in many Southern speakers the two merge: then the spelling must be remembered.
104 pairs of words in the dictionary differ only by this sound.
Your accent says them the same: only the spelling tells them apart, lean on your anchors.
- trảto pay=chảnot at all
- trồngto plant, grow=chồnghusband
- trưanoon=chưanot yet
- tràtea=chàto rub
- traiboy, male=chaibottle
- truyệnstory, novel=chuyệnstory, matter
- trebamboo=cheto cover, hide
- tránforehead=chánto be bored
- trọcbald, bare=chọcto poke
- trậtrank, grade=chậtnarrow, cramped
When your accent merges them, the spelling is the only difference: learn the pairs you use, one by one.
Your accent, your choice
Some Southern speakers keep tr apart. Switch the accent above and listen to both voices: the Southern accent can be set rule by rule.
Every other look-alike pair (o / ô, s / x, hỏi / ngã…), counted over the whole dictionary: Vietnamese letters compared.
Quick answers
Do tr and ch sound different in Vietnamese?
In careful speech, tr is said with the tongue curled up and ch with the tongue flat. In the North and in much of the South they merge: trà and chà sound the same.
How do I know whether to write tr or ch?
When your accent merges them, you remember the spelling of each word, like English “their” and “there”. The most common pairs are on this page.
Do Southern speakers say tr?
Some do, especially when speaking carefully. In our accent settings, a Southern speaker who keeps tr apart can switch this merger off.
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