Vietnamese Emotions: How to Say How You Feel

Being able to say how you feel makes conversations real, and these words are short and high-frequency. You will use them every day, from answering "how are you" to reacting to news. You can practice the set below free, no login.

The core feelings

Vietnamese	English
vui	happy, glad
buồn	sad
giận	angry
sợ	afraid, scared
mệt	tired
lo	worried
chán	bored
hạnh phúc	happy, blissful
ngạc nhiên	surprised

A couple of these double up in everyday speech: buồn on its own is "sad," but buồn ngủ means "sleepy" and buồn cười means "funny." Context makes it clear.

Saying how you feel

The simplest frame is Tôi thấy ... (I feel ...) or just Tôi ... plus the feeling:

• Tôi thấy vui. (I feel happy.)
• Tôi buồn. (I am sad.)
• Tôi mệt. (I am tired.)

You can also use cảm thấy for a slightly fuller "feel": Tôi cảm thấy lo. (I feel worried.) Both are fine, and thấy is the everyday short form.

Turning the feeling up

Vietnamese has easy intensifiers. Put rất (very) before the word, or quá / lắm (so, really) after it:

• rất vui (very happy)
• vui quá (so happy)
• buồn lắm (really sad)

So Tôi rất vui and Tôi vui quá both say you are very happy, with a slightly different rhythm. quá tends to sound more exclamatory, like you are reacting in the moment.

Answering "how are you"

This vocabulary pairs perfectly with greetings. When someone asks Bạn khỏe không? (Are you well?), you can answer with a feeling:

• Tôi khỏe, cảm ơn. (I am well, thank you.)
• Hôm nay tôi hơi mệt. (Today I am a little tired.) Here hơi means "a little."

If you want a more casual, online reaction, the Vietnamese slang word xỉu ("I'm dying," from something cute or shocking) is the playful cousin of these feeling words.

A few more feelings

When you are ready, these round out the set:

Vietnamese	English
lo lắng	anxious, worried
tức giận	furious
thất vọng	disappointed
hồi hộp	nervous, on edge
bình tĩnh	calm

Some are built from the core words you already know: lo lắng grows out of lo (worried), so each new feeling is a little easier than the last.

Asking how someone feels

To ask how someone is feeling, use thế nào (how) from Vietnamese question words:

• Bạn thấy thế nào? (How do you feel?)
• Bạn ổn không? (Are you okay?)

To say a feeling is absent, just put không before it: Tôi không buồn. (I am not sad.) That one move turns every feeling above into its opposite.

Feelings inside everyday words

Many feeling words hide inside common expressions, which helps them stick:

• vui vẻ (cheerful, friendly) grows from vui (happy).
• buồn cười (funny, literally "sad-laugh") grows from buồn (sad).
• an tâm (reassured, at ease) is what you feel once a worry is gone.

You will hear vui vẻ describing a friendly person and buồn cười describing something that made everyone laugh. Spotting the core word inside each one means every new expression is half-learned already.

Put it together

• Tôi rất vui được gặp bạn. (I am very happy to meet you.)
• Cô ấy trông buồn. (She looks sad.) trông means "looks."
• Tôi lo cho bạn. (I am worried about you.)

A gentle note

Vietnamese tends to express strong feelings a little indirectly, especially with people you do not know well. Softening words like hơi (a little) are common and polite, so do not feel you must be dramatic to sound natural.

Feelings are vocabulary, so repetition is your friend: match each word to its meaning until it is automatic. From here, round out your everyday words with body parts and family words, then follow the beginner roadmap.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say emotions in Vietnamese?

The core feelings are vui (happy), buồn (sad), giận (angry), sợ (afraid), mệt (tired), and lo (worried). To say how you feel, use 'Tôi thấy ...' (I feel ...), for example 'Tôi thấy vui'.

How do you say 'I am happy' in Vietnamese?

Say 'Tôi vui' or 'Tôi thấy vui' (I feel happy). To stress it, add 'rất' before the word ('rất vui', very happy) or 'quá' after it ('vui quá', so happy).

How do you say 'very' with a feeling in Vietnamese?

Put 'rất' before the word for 'very' (rất buồn, very sad), or add 'quá' or 'lắm' after it for 'so' or 'really' (buồn quá, so sad).