Everyday Vietnamese

How to pronounce xin chào

xin chào
Without marks
xin chao
Syllables
2 · xin · chào
Tone
xin: ngang (no mark · level) · chào: huyền (grave accent · low falling)
Meaning
hello, greetings
Frequency
No. 7,339 among the most used words

xin chào, 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 · xin

Syllable 2 · chào

Spelled the Vietnamese school wayi nờ in xờ in xin — a u ao chờ ao chao huyền chào

xin chàohello, greetings

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 · xin

Syllable 2 · chào

Southern or Northern?

South · Sài Gòn

  • x = s
  • in = inh = .i.ŋ
  • ch = tr

North · Hà Nội

  • x = s
  • ch = tr

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

Read xin chào? 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 xin

  • tinto believe
  • into print
  • pinbattery
  • sinsine (math)
  • binbattery
  • chinfoot, leg (dialectal)
  • phincoffee filter
  • hinnarrow

Like chào

  • vàoto enter
  • nàowhich
  • làoLaos
  • xàoto stir-fry
  • tràoto overflow
  • bàoto plane (wood)
  • càoto scratch
  • nhàoto knead

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

Create my free account

Spelling to know

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

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

Quick answers

How do you pronounce xin chào?

Block by block: i → n → in → x → xin · a → u → ao → ch → chao → huyền → chào. Tone: xin: ngang (no mark · level) · chào: huyền (grave accent · low falling). Read each block aloud, then compare with the recording, in a Southern or a Northern voice.

What tone is xin chào?

xin: ngang (no mark · level) · chào: huyền (grave accent · low falling)

Is xin chào said differently in the South and the North?

South · Sài Gòn: x = s, in = inh = .i.ŋ, ch = tr. North · Hà Nội: x = s, ch = tr.

What does xin chào mean?

hello, greetings

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.

Create my free account