Which Vietnamese words should I learn first?

The easiest words of grammar and everyday life: basic verbs, small structural words, polite phrases, numbers, family, food. This page gathers 100 of them.

What comes after these 100 words?

Carry on topic by topic: each list gives 100 words sorted into three levels. The KoKo app gathers +6,000 Vietnamese words and brings each one back at the right moment.

Can I print this list or save it as a PDF?

Yes. The “Print the list” button at the top of the page opens your device’s print dialog: choose to save as PDF to keep the 100 words and their translation, with nothing else around them.

Your first 100 Vietnamese words

New to Vietnamese? Here are 100 easy words to start with: verbs, the small words of grammar and everyday vocabulary, translated into English.

These words come from the 26 grammar and everyday-life topics of KoKo. The app holds 2,397 words at this level.

Grammar 24 words

Vietnamese	English
nói	to say
đọc	to read
cười	to laugh
giết	to kill
thấp	low
tốt	good
sống	raw
cứng	hard
ở đó	there
ở đây	here
kém	badly
ít	little
tới	toPreposition, movement in the direction of a place
từ	fromProvenance, origin
và	and
hoặc	or
ở đó	thereAdverbial pronoun of place, replaces a complement
này	thisDemonstrative determiner, masculine before a consonant
một ít	somePartitive article, masculine singular
của nó	of it
đi vào	to come in
lên xe	to get on
trả lại	to give back
đi ra	to get out

Everyday life 76 words

Vietnamese	English
không	no
vâng	yes
cảm ơn	thank you
chào	hiInformal greeting
một	one
mười	ten
ít	few
sáu	six
sự kết thúc	end
tháng Năm	May
mùa hè	summer
tháng Tám	August
xương	boneHard part of the skeleton
cổ	neck
lưng	back
mũi	nose
vết bầm	bruise
sự nghỉ ngơi	rest
sức khoẻ	health
vi rút	virus
bạn	friend
em bé	baby
con trai	son
chồng	husbandEveryday use
điên	crazy
thất vọng	disappointed
sự ngượng ngùng	embarrassment
niềm vui	joy
chìa khoá	key
giường	bed
bức tường	wall
sàn nhà	floor
đinh vít	screw
gỗ	wood
đinh	nail
keo dán	glue
tất dài	stockings
cổ áo	collar
sang trọng	smart
da thuộc	leather
tỏi	garlic
lúa mì	wheat
nước	water
nước ép	juice
hữu cơ	organic
bát	bowl
cơn đói	hunger
hương vị	flavour
túi	bag
đắt	expensive
mã PIN	PIN code
chi phí	cost
đường phố	street
nhà ga	train station
công viên	park
bản đồ	map
xe buýt	bus
xe khách	coach
xe máy	motorbike
cảng	harbour
chuyến bay	flight
hoá đơn khách sạn	bill
địa điểm	site
hướng dẫn viên	guide
đèo	mountain pass
phía đông	east
hồ	lake
mỏ	beak
gà trống	rooster
tổ	nest
vàng	gold
vòm	arch
sắt	iron
liên kết	link
trang	page
cuộc gọi	call

Mini quiz

5 words from this page, picked at random. Find their translation.

Frequently asked questions

Which Vietnamese words should I learn first?: The easiest words of grammar and everyday life: basic verbs, small structural words, polite phrases, numbers, family, food. This page gathers 100 of them.
What comes after these 100 words?: Carry on topic by topic: each list gives 100 words sorted into three levels. The KoKo app gathers +6,000 Vietnamese words and brings each one back at the right moment.
Can I print this list or save it as a PDF?: Yes. The “Print the list” button at the top of the page opens your device’s print dialog: choose to save as PDF to keep the 100 words and their translation, with nothing else around them.

How KoKo makes words stick

These lists come from KoKo, the app to learn Vietnamese vocabulary on iPhone.