Everyday Vietnamese

How to pronounce không có gì

không có gì
Without marks
khong co gi
Syllables
3 · không · có · gì
Tone
không: ngang (no mark · level) · có: sắc (acute accent · high rising) · gì: huyền (grave accent · low falling)
Meaning
you're welcome, it's nothing

không có gì, block by block

Each line adds one piece. Read it aloud, then tap a card to compare: a consonant plays the way it is spelled at school (ph = “phờ”).

Syllable 1 · không

Syllable 2 · có

Syllable 3 · gì

Spelled the Vietnamese school wayô ngờ ông khờ ông không — cờ o co sắc có — giờ i gi huyền gì

không có gìyou're welcome, it's nothing

Every tone

The same letters without a tone (the root), then with each tone the spelling allows: some are words, some only possible syllables.

Syllable 1 · không

Syllable 2 · có

Syllable 3 · gì

Southern or Northern?

South · Sài Gòn

  • gi = d = v

North · Hà Nội

  • gi = d = r

Same sound, different spelling: the accent changes the sound, never the written word.

Read không có gì? Then you can read these

Same rhyme, same tone: only the first consonant changes. That's how the app teaches reading, from words you know to every word that sounds like them.

Like không

  • ônggrandfather
  • trôngto look, to appear
  • sôngriver
  • môngbuttock
  • bôngflower
  • lônghair, fur
  • đôngwinter
  • tôngtone, shade (color/sound)

Like có

  • đóthat, there
  • nóhe, she, it
  • khódifficult
  • chódog
  • giówind
  • bóbundle, bunch
  • ngóto look at
  • dópaper mulberry

Like gì

  • thìthen, as for
  • vìbecause
  • dìaunt (mother's side)
  • nhìsecond
  • mìnoodles
  • xìto leak out (air)
  • phìfat
  • chìlead (metal)

Any other word, and your own words: in the app.

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Spelling to know

c or k?

Same /k/ sound. Write K before i, e, ê, y, and C before every other vowel.

kẹo · kêu · kỳ · cá · cơm · con

gi

GI is one consonant (/z/, /j/ in the South). Before iê the two i merge: giếng = gi + iêng. On its own, gì = gi + i.

già · giường · giếng · gì

i or y?

Same /i/ sound: only the spelling changes. After the linking u and after qu, write y (tuy, quý). In some words i and y are free variants: kỳ or kì, lý or lí. Not to be confused with ai / ay, where the length of the a changes.

tuy · quý · kỳ · kì

Quick answers

How do you pronounce không có gì?

Block by block: ô → ng → ông → kh → không · o → c → co → sắc → có · i → gi → gi → huyền → gì. Tone: không: ngang (no mark · level) · có: sắc (acute accent · high rising) · gì: huyền (grave accent · low falling). Read each block aloud, then compare with the recording, in a Southern or a Northern voice.

What tone is không có gì?

không: ngang (no mark · level) · có: sắc (acute accent · high rising) · gì: huyền (grave accent · low falling)

Is không có gì said differently in the South and the North?

South · Sài Gòn: gi = d = v. North · Hà Nội: gi = d = r.

What does không có gì mean?

you're welcome, it's nothing

More: Everyday words

All the words →
Free toolVietnamese alphabet chart →29 letters, each with a word you know and its sound. Print it.
Free toolLook-alike letters compared →ă / â, d / đ, tr / ch, hỏi / ngã: real word pairs, the same or not in your accent.
Free toolType Vietnamese with Telex →A keyboard that explains every key, and a 5-minute course.

Any word, in your accent

In the app, every word of the dictionary opens in the Microscope, and your own words become the anchors you read with.

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