Vietnamese Alphabet: All 29 Letters Explained (Beginner's Guide)
The Vietnamese alphabet has 29 letters. Learn every letter, its sound, the 7 with diacritics, and why there's no F, J, W, or Z.
Quick answer
The Vietnamese alphabet (chữ Quốc Ngữ) has 29 letters, 12 vowels and 17 consonants, based on the Latin script with diacritics. It has no F, J, W, or Z. Seven letters are unique: ă, â, đ, ê, ô, ơ, ư.
Vietnamese looks reassuringly familiar to English speakers because it uses the Latin alphabet, no new script to memorize. But there are a few twists: seven extra letters, tone marks, and sounds that don't quite match their English shapes.
How many letters are in the Vietnamese alphabet?
There are 29 letters: 12 vowels and 17 consonants. The big surprises are the seven letters that don't exist in English and the four English letters that don't exist in Vietnamese (F, J, W, Z).
The full Vietnamese alphabet chart
| Letter | Rough sound | Letter | Rough sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | "ah" (father) | n | "n" |
| ă | short "ah" | o | "aw" (law) |
| â | "uh" (but) | ô | "oh" (go) |
| b | "b" | ơ | "ur" (fur) |
| c | "k" | p | "p" (mostly final) |
| d | "z"/"y" | q | "k" (with u) |
| đ | "d" (dog) | r | "z"/"r" |
| e | "eh" (bet) | s | "s"/"sh" |
| ê | "ay" (day) | t | "t" |
| g | "g" | u | "oo" (food) |
| h | "h" | ư | "uh" (no English match) |
| i | "ee" | v | "v" |
| k | "k" | x | "s" |
| l | "l" | y | "ee" |
| m | "m" |
The 7 letters with diacritics
These are the letters English speakers miss most. They are separate letters, not accented versions:
- ă, a shorter, clipped "a"
- â, like the "u" in "but"
- đ, a hard "d" as in "dog" (the plain d is not this sound)
- ê, like "ay" in "day"
- ô, like "oh"
- ơ, like "ur" in "fur," with no lip rounding
- ư, a tense "uh" made with spread lips; the trickiest vowel for beginners
The letters that don't exist: F, J, W, Z
Vietnamese has no F, J, W, or Z. Their sounds are covered other ways, for example the "f" sound is written ph (as in phở), and the "z" sound is just the letter d in the North. You'll only see F/J/W/Z in loanwords like wifi or brand names.
Vowels vs consonants
The 12 vowels are a, ă, â, e, ê, i, o, ô, ơ, u, ư, y. The 17 consonants include some tricky digraphs you'll meet later, ng, ngh, gi, kh, tr, ch, ph, each a single sound. For how each one actually sounds, see the Vietnamese vowels & consonants guide.
One key point: the diacritics on letters (like ơ and ư) are not the same as tone marks. Tone marks (à, á, ả, ã, ạ) sit on top and change pitch, see Vietnamese tone marks explained and the 6 Vietnamese tones.
Next steps
Once you know the letters, the next layer is making them sound right, head to how to pronounce Vietnamese words for the tricky letters and final consonants.
Sources
- Vietnamese alphabet. Linguistic reference for the 29-letter chữ Quốc Ngữ (Latin-based), the seven diacritic letters, the absence of F/J/W/Z, and the 17th-century missionary origins.
- Vietnamese phonology. Linguistic reference for the letter sounds and the d vs đ distinction (Northern vs Southern).
Frequently asked questions
How many letters are in the Vietnamese alphabet?
The Vietnamese alphabet (chữ Quốc Ngữ) has 29 letters, 12 vowels and 17 consonants. It is based on the Latin script with added diacritics.
Does Vietnamese use the Latin alphabet?
Yes. Modern Vietnamese is written in chữ Quốc Ngữ, a Latin-based alphabet developed by Portuguese and French missionaries in the 17th century, with diacritics added for extra vowels and tones.
Why is there no F, J, W, or Z in Vietnamese?
Those sounds either don't exist in Vietnamese or are written with other letters or digraphs, for example, the 'f' sound is written 'ph'. F, J, W, and Z only appear in foreign loanwords and brand names.
Is đ the same as the English letter d?
No. The letter đ (d with a stroke) sounds like the English 'd' in 'dog', while the plain Vietnamese d sounds like 'z' in the North or 'y' in the South. They are two different letters.