Lessons › Lesson 3
Lesson 3 · The six tones & where the marks go
Every Vietnamese syllable carries a tone — six tones, five written marks (the level tone has none). “Thanh” is the melody you say; “dấu” is the symbol you write. Change the tone and you change the word, so this lesson trains your ear and your mouth.
Accent:
🎼 The pitch map
All six tones on one stage. Tap a tone to hear “ma” spoken with it and watch its pitch line light up.
| ngang | no mark · a | stays level — do not let it sag at the end |
| huyền | grave · à | an easy glide downward — the friendliest one for English speakers |
| sắc | acute · á | sweeps up smoothly, air flowing free |
| hỏi | hook · ả | dips, then lifts — like double-checking something you half-heard |
| ngã | tilde · ã | rises like sắc but the throat catches mid-way — a little creaky break |
| nặng | dot below · ạ | a short low drop, cut off tight — the heaviest of the six |
✍️ Where does the mark go?
The tone mark always sits on a VOWEL, never a consonant. Three rules cover everything:
1 · One vowel
the mark goes right on it
mã · mình · bạn · cùng
2 · Vowel cluster, no final consonant
the mark goes on the second-to-last vowel
hòa · kiểu · khỏe · mùa
3 · Vowel cluster + final consonant
the mark moves to the last vowel
tiếng · Việt · Nguyễn · Quỳnh
You will meet both “hòa” and “hoà” in the wild — an older convention puts the mark on the last vowel of open pairs. Both are accepted, and when you type with Telex (Lesson 2) the keyboard places the mark for you, so you never have to choose.
🎯 One sound, six meanings
This is why tones matter: the same syllable with six tones is six different words. Tap through both families.
👂 The three confusable pairs
Learners mix up these three pairs the most. Hear each tone on “ma” first, then on real words — every chip plays audio.
thanh sắc
Sắc rises clean and smooth — like a surprised “what?!”, air flowing freely all the way up.
thanh ngã
Ngã rises too, but the throat pinches shut mid-way — the sound “breaks” for a beat, then finishes the climb.
thanh ngang
Ngang holds one steady level. The trap for English speakers: we drop our voice at the end of words — don’t.
thanh huyền
Huyền eases downward — exactly the relaxed fall English uses at the end of sentences, which makes it the easiest tone of all.
thanh hỏi
Hỏi dips and comes back up — the sound of double-checking something. Practice trick: pinch your nose so the air leaves only through your mouth.
thanh nặng
Nặng drops low and stops short — close the throat and let only a sliver of air escape. Nail that little choke and the tone takes care of itself.
🎧 Tone quiz
10 questions — hear a word, pick the one you heard. Six choices, one per tone, and a different word family each question.