Vietnamese pronouns

In general, a Vietnamese pronoun (Vietnamese: Đại từ nhân xưng, lit. 'Person-calling pronoun', or Vietnamese: Đại từ xưng hô) can serve as a noun phrase. In Vietnamese, a pronoun usually connotes a degree of family relationship or kinship. In polite speech, the aspect of kinship terminology is used when referring to oneself, the audience, or a third party. These terms may vary by region. Many are derived from Chinese loanwords but have acquired the additional grammatical function of being pronouns.

Vietnamese terms of reference may imply the social relationship between the speaker and the person being referred to, differences in age, and even the attitude of the speaker toward that person. Thus a speaker must carefully assess these factors to decide the appropriate term^[1]. Strangers may ask each other about age when they first meet to establish proper terms of address. If the speaker does not know the listener, there are certain pronoun pairs to address oneself and the listener to sound respectful.^[2]