Vietnamese New Year greetings

Chúc mừng năm mới means 'congratulations on the new year' and works with anyone, from a toddler to your landlord. Say it on its own, or add a wish after it. You'll start hearing it the moment the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve, and people keep saying it to everyone they meet for the first week or two of the year.

In writing, on cards, banners and shop windows, you'll also see Cung chúc tân xuân (respectful wishes for the new spring), a formal Sino-Vietnamese line people read far more than they say. In texts, young people shorten the greeting to cmnm or simply use the English 'Happy New Year'.

Vietnamese New Year wishes come as set phrases, many of them four Sino-Vietnamese syllables long. You don't need to understand every syllable; people use them as whole blocks. Put chúc (wish) and a pronoun in front and chain two or three together: 'Chúc anh an khang thịnh vượng, vạn sự như ý.'

If you learn only one, make it an khang thịnh vượng. It suits anyone and you'll hear it constantly.

With older people the wish is almost always about health and long life, and the pronouns carry the respect. Call yourself cháu and the person ông (grandfather's age), bà (grandmother's age), bác (older than your parents), cô or chú (around your parents' age). Finish with ạ.

A complete, polite greeting to a friend's grandmother sounds like this: 'Cháu chúc bà năm mới sức khỏe dồi dào, sống lâu trăm tuổi ạ.' It's long, but elders will be delighted, and if you stumble they'll happily help you finish. If you're meeting a partner's family over Tết, read our guide to meeting a Vietnamese partner's family as well, and our guide to Vietnamese pronouns if you're unsure who is ông, bác or chú.

With friends your own age, keep it light: 'Năm mới vui vẻ nha!' and something specific, like luck in love or a pay rise. With colleagues, health and success are always safe. With a boss or a client, go formal: use anh or chị, add ạ if they're older than you, and wish success and prosperity to them and the company.

On the first working day after Tết, many offices gather for a small ceremony and the boss hands out lì xì to staff, so have a wish ready that morning. In the weeks before, the talk of every office is thưởng Tết, the Tết bonus.

Lì xì (the Southern word, used everywhere) or mừng tuổi (the Northern word) is the custom of giving money in small red envelopes. Adults give it to children, grown-up children give it to their parents and grandparents, and bosses often give it to staff. The money is meant to bring luck, so people use crisp new notes, and the gesture matters more than the amount.

If you're spending Tết with a Vietnamese family, it's a lovely touch to prepare a few envelopes for the children and the grandparents. Hand each one over with both hands and a wish. When you receive one, take it with both hands, say thank you with a wish in return, and don't open it in front of the giver.

Tết comes with beliefs about luck, and the first days are thought to set the tone for the whole year. You don't have to share them, but it helps to know them.

Xông đất (first-footing): the first person to step into a home after midnight is believed to bring the family's luck for the year, so many families choose that guest in advance. Unless you've been invited, don't be the first visitor on the morning of the first day.

On the first days, people avoid sweeping the house (you'd sweep the luck away), arguing, breaking things, talking about death or illness, and lending or borrowing money. Bright colours, especially red, are in; head-to-toe black or white, linked to funerals, is best avoided. Visits follow an old saying: the first day for the father's family, the second for the mother's, the third for teachers.

Giao thừa, the turn of the year, is midnight between Friday 5 and Saturday 6 February 2027. Mùng 1 (the first day) is Saturday 6 February, mùng 2 is Sunday 7 and mùng 3 is Monday 8. About a week before New Year's Eve, families send the Kitchen Gods (ông Công ông Táo) off to heaven, often by releasing live carp into a lake or river, and the cleaning and decorating begin in earnest.

If you're travelling, book early. Trains, buses and flights out of the big cities fill up in the days before Tết, and many family-run restaurants and shops close for several days afterwards. To practise the greetings people use when they meet, the Introductions phrasebook in the app has the hellos, the pronouns and the polite replies recorded.