The six Vietnamese tones

Here is ma with each tone. Play them in order a few times before you read the descriptions: your ear learns faster than your eyes.

Each tone has a Vietnamese name, and teachers and friends will use them when they correct you: ngang (level), huyền (falling), sắc (rising), hỏi (asking), ngã (tumbling) and nặng (heavy). The level tone has no mark at all; the other five each have their own.

These descriptions follow the Hanoi accent, which keeps all six tones apart. The Southern differences come in the next sections.

Ngang (ma). Flat, in the middle of your voice, like holding a note. English speakers tend to let it drop at the end of a sentence: keep it level.

Huyền (mà). Start a little lower than normal and let it sink, relaxed and soft, like a tired sigh. Don't push it: it's the gentlest tone.

Sắc (má). Start mid and go up, clearly, like a surprised what? in English. Short words with sắc, like cá (fish), sound bright and quick.

Hỏi (mả). In the North it starts mid and drops low, sometimes curling back up a little at the end. In the South it dips and then clearly rises, like a doubtful huh?

Ngã (mã). The hardest one for most learners. In the North it rises like sắc, but with a catch in the throat halfway, almost a tiny hiccup. In the South it sounds the same as hỏi.

Nặng (mạ). Low, short and heavy. In the North the sound is cut off in the throat, like the uh! when you lift something heavy. In the South it's low with a slight dip, without that sudden stop.

Every Vietnamese syllable carries exactly one tone, and its mark sits on the main vowel. Some vowels already carry a mark that changes the vowel itself (â, ê, ô, ă, ơ, ư), so one letter can wear two marks. In tiếng Việt, the hat on ê makes the vowel, and the accent on top gives the tone.

You'll sometimes see one word with the mark in a slightly different place, like hòa and hoà, or khóa and khoá. Both are correct: it's an older and a newer habit for placing the mark, and the sound doesn't change.

To type tones, add a Vietnamese keyboard to your phone or computer and use Telex: type the letter, then s for sắc, f for huyền, r for hỏi, x for ngã and j for nặng. So mas gives má and maj gives mạ.

Hanoi speech keeps all six tones distinct. Most Southern speakers, and many Central ones, say hỏi and ngã the same way; in the South, that shared tone dips and then rises. So in Saigon mả (grave) and mã (horse) sound identical, and so do sửa (to fix) and sữa (milk). Context does the work: nobody thinks you want to drink a repair.

The Southern nặng is different too: lower and a little longer, without the North's choked stop.

Which should you copy? The accent you hear every day. Either way, learn which mark each word has, because spelling is the same everywhere: a Southerner who says sửa and sữa alike still writes them differently. Our guide to Northern vs Southern Vietnamese covers the other differences, from consonants to everyday words.

These are everyday words where the tone is the only difference, so a slip gives you a different word. Say each group out loud, then check yourself against the recording. Go back and forth: phở, phố, phở, phố.

Asking questions with your voice. In English a question goes up at the end. In Vietnamese, lifting the last word changes its tone. The question is already in the word không, so in Bạn khỏe không? keep không level, not rising.

Losing tones in sentences. Learners often say single words well, then flatten everything once they speak faster. Practise short sentences, not just words.

Mixing up hỏi and nặng. Both go low. Hỏi dips and recovers; nặng drops and stops. In the North, keep nặng short.

Learning words without their marks. If you learn pho without the hook, you'll have to relearn it later. Learn every word with its tone from day one.

Being afraid to exaggerate. Your tones will sound too big to you long before they sound too big to anyone else. Exaggerate in practice; it settles down by itself.

Tones come from listening more than from rules. Here is a routine that works.

Two minutes of the six. Play ma, mà, má, mả, mã, mạ and repeat each one right after the recording.

Three minutes of pairs. Take three groups from the list above and say them back and forth until the difference feels physical, not just mental.

Five minutes of real words. Learn new words with their audio, and say each one out loud, never only in your head.

Once a week, record yourself on your phone and compare it with the recording. It's uncomfortable, and it's the fastest feedback you'll get.

The easy1000words app has a short tones course with these six recordings, and the 1,000 most common words come with audio, so you learn each word with its melody from the start. You can choose a Northern or Southern accent in Settings. When you want to use your tones on real people, start with how to say hello in Vietnamese: greetings are short, and people will happily correct you.