Thưa (greeting) & Dạ (acknowledgement)
You need to know the differences between Thưa (greeting) & Dạ (acknowledgement). They indicate politeness when addressing anyone older than you.
Thưa + a title is the polite way to greet an older person. Thưa Bà Ngoại (grandma), Thưa Mẹ (mom), Thưa Dì Ba (Auntie #3) are all proper greetings.
When Julian gets home, he would say “Thưa Mẹ” to his Mom. Chloé would say “Thưa Dì Ba” to her auntie, Thanh.
Dạ + a title is the polite way to acknowledge an older person. When Bà Ngoại calls “Calvin ơi”, he will answer “Dạ Bà Ngoại”, almost like a “yes grandma”.
Calvin could expand the phrase to say,
- “Yes, grandma” is Dạ có Bà Ngoại (có = yes)
- “No, grandma” is Dạ không Bà Ngoại (không = no)
We rarely use “Thưa & Dạ“ to someone younger than ourselves, except in endearing situations. When an older person acknowledges a younger person, he/she can use either đây (I’m here) or chi (what is it). For example, when Chloé calls “anh Trân ơi”, Trân will answer “anh đây” or “chi em?”
Greeting a person on the street based on their perceived age or status
In the Vietnamese culture, we have to be polite when greeting people on the streets, based on their perceived age or status. To make it easy for you to understand, I have divided everyone into 4 groups.
- Group 1 – greeting someone much younger than you:
- chào em to someone noticeably younger
- chào cháu to someone much younger, around your nephew/niece’s ages
- Group 2 – greeting someone around your age:
- chào anh to a male or chào chị to a female
Note that since you don’t really know their age, to be polite, you call them “anh” or “chị” but not “em”.
- Group 3 – greeting someone around your parent’s ages, or between the ages of 40’s to 60’s:
- chào bác if they are older than your parents
- chào chú (male) or chào cô (female) if they are younger than your parents
- Group 4 – greeting someone around your grandparent’s ages, or between the ages of 60’s and up:
- chào ông (male) or chào bà (female)
The same will be applied to the usage of “Thưa & Dạ“ when you see them on the street or in our house as guests.
That will be all for lesson #2. If you have any questions, feel free to call or text me. Remember, the quiz will be on Sunday and Lesson #3 will be the following Monday.
Chào các em (my students)
Dì Năm
BuiPham 