Everyday Vietnamese

How to pronounce xin lỗi

xin lỗi
Without marks
xin loi
Syllables
2 · xin · lỗi
Tone
xin: ngang (no mark · level) · lỗi: ngã (tilde · broken rising)
Meaning
sorry, excuse me
Frequency
No. 185 among the most used words

xin lỗi, 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 · lỗi

Spelled the Vietnamese school wayi nờ in xờ in xin — ô i ôi lờ ôi lôi ngã lỗi

xin lỗisorry, excuse me

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 · lỗi

Southern or Northern?

South · Sài Gòn

  • x = s
  • in = inh = .i.ŋ
  • ngã = hỏi

North · Hà Nội

  • x = s

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

Read xin lỗi? 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 lỗi

  • nỗi(feeling classifier)
  • mỗieach, every
  • trỗito rise, sprout
  • rỗifree, unoccupied
  • dỗito sulk
  • đỗidistance, space
  • cỗistunted with age

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

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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

hỏi or ngã?

Two different marks in writing (hook / tilde). In the South they sound the same: only knowing the word tells you which.

ngủ · phở · sữa · mũi

Quick answers

How do you pronounce xin lỗi?

Block by block: i → n → in → x → xin · ô → i → ôi → l → lôi → ngã → lỗi. Tone: xin: ngang (no mark · level) · lỗi: ngã (tilde · broken rising). Read each block aloud, then compare with the recording, in a Southern or a Northern voice.

What tone is xin lỗi?

xin: ngang (no mark · level) · lỗi: ngã (tilde · broken rising)

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

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

What does xin lỗi mean?

sorry, excuse me

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

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