Place in Vietnam

How to pronounce Sài Gòn

Sài Gòn
Without marks
sai gon
Syllables
2 · sài · gòn
Tone
sài: huyền (grave accent · low falling) · gòn: huyền (grave accent · low falling)
Meaning
Saigon
Frequency
No. 1,626 among the most used words

Sài Gòn, 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 · sài

Syllable 2 · gòn

Spelled the Vietnamese school waya i ai sờ ai sai huyền sài — o nờ on gờ on gon huyền gòn

sài gònSaigon

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 · sài

Syllable 2 · gòn

Southern or Northern?

South · Sài Gòn

  • s = x
  • g = r

North · Hà Nội

  • s = x

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

Read Sài Gòn? 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 sài

  • ngàiyou, he (honorific)
  • vàia few, some
  • bàilesson
  • dàilong
  • càito pin
  • hàifunny, comic
  • xàito use
  • gàito insert, fasten

Like gòn

  • cònstill
  • hòn(classifier: stones, islands)
  • trònround
  • đòna blow
  • giòncrispy, crunchy
  • mònto wear out
  • bònto gather bit by bit
  • lònto slip through, crawl under

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

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Spelling to know

ai or ay? ao or au?

In ay and au the a is short (an ă written a). In ai and ao it is long. Listen to the length: hai / tay, sao / sau.

hai · tay · sao · sau

g or gh?

Same sound. Write GH before i, e, ê, and G everywhere else.

ghế · ghi · ghe · gà · gỗ

Quick answers

How do you pronounce Sài Gòn?

Block by block: a → i → ai → s → sai → huyền → sài · o → n → on → g → gon → huyền → gòn. Tone: sài: huyền (grave accent · low falling) · gòn: huyền (grave accent · low falling). Read each block aloud, then compare with the recording, in a Southern or a Northern voice.

What tone is Sài Gòn?

sài: huyền (grave accent · low falling) · gòn: huyền (grave accent · low falling)

Is Sài Gòn said differently in the South and the North?

South · Sài Gòn: s = x, g = r. North · Hà Nội: s = x.

What does Sài Gòn mean?

Saigon

More: Places

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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