Northern Vietnamese Consonants
Vietnamese consonants do two jobs: the sound a syllable starts with (written “b-”) and the sound it ends with (written “-ng”). Each row has a short pronunciation guide and example words — tap a word to hear it. The highlighted letters are the consonant to focus on.
c-
Like the c in 'cat'. Also spelled k or qu.
đ-
Like the d in 'dog', said with a slight inward catch (an 'imploded' d).
b-
Like the b in 'boy', with a slight inward catch (an 'imploded' b).
ch-
Like the ch in 'cheese', but softer and lighter.
d-
Like the z in 'zoo'. In the North, d, gi and r all sound this way.
h-
Like the h in 'hat'.
l-
Like the l in 'let'.
m-
Like the m in 'man'.
t-
Like the t in 'stop' — crisp, with no puff of air.
s-
Like the s in 'see'. In the North, s and x sound the same.
kh-
Like the ch in the Scottish 'loch' or German 'Bach'.
tr-
Like 'tr' in 'try', pressed into a single sound.
v-
Like the v in 'van'.
g-
Like the g in 'go', but softer and 'gargled' at the back of the throat. Also spelled gh.
th-
Like the t in 'top', with a strong puff of air.
nh-
Like the ny in 'canyon'.
n-
Like the n in 'no'.
ng-
Like the ng in 'singer' — but right at the start of the word. Also spelled ngh.
ph-
Like the f in 'fan'.
-ng
Like the ng in 'sing'.
-n
Like the n in 'sun'.
-m
Like the m in 'ham'.
-t
Like the t in 'cat', but cut off sharply with no release.
-c
Like the ck in 'back', cut off sharply with no release.
-nh
Close to the ng in 'sing', but formed further forward in the mouth.
-p
Like the p in 'stop', cut off sharply with no release.
-ch
A hard stop near the t in 'cat', cut off sharply with no release.