Anh ấy, chị ấy, cô ấy... — Talking about another person

What you will learn

English learners often look for direct equivalents of “he” and “she”. Vietnamese does not organize third-person reference that simply. Relationship terms remain important even when the person is not the listener.

1. Relationship word + ấy

• anh ấy — that/he person addressed or categorized as anh
• chị ấy — that/she person categorized as chị
• em ấy — that younger person
• cô ấy — that woman/person categorized as cô
• chú ấy — that man/person categorized as chú
• ông ấy — that older man / he
• bà ấy — that older woman / she

Ấy helps indicate the person being referred to, while the relationship word still carries social information.

2. Anh ấy is not simply “he”

If you call one man anh, you may refer to him as anh ấy. Another man may instead be chú ấy, ông ấy, em ấy or simply his name.

The English pronoun “he” hides distinctions Vietnamese may choose to keep.

3. Chị ấy is not simply “she”

Likewise, a woman might be referred to as:

• chị ấy
• cô ấy
• bà ấy
• em ấy
• her name/title

Age, relationship, role and viewpoint affect the choice.

4. Use a name when it is clearer

Vietnamese often continues using names:

• Lan làm ở Hà Nội.
• Hôm nay Lan nghỉ.

There is no requirement to replace a repeated name with a pronoun as quickly as English style often does.

5. A short conversation

Mai: Anh kia là ai?

Nam: Anh ấy là anh trai anh.

Mai: Anh ấy làm nghề gì?

Nam: Anh ấy là bác sĩ.

Mai: Còn chị đứng bên cạnh?

Nam: Chị ấy là vợ anh ấy.

6. Họ — they / people / surname, depending on context

Họ can function as “they” in many contexts:

• Họ sống ở Hà Nội. — They live in Hà Nội.
• Họ đang làm việc. — They are working.

But họ also means “surname/family name” in other contexts. The surrounding sentence tells you which meaning is active.

7. Người đó / người kia

When the relationship is unknown or not relevant, Vietnamese can also use:

• người đó — that person
• người kia — that person over there

These are useful when you cannot yet choose an appropriate relationship term.

8. Third person can be omitted too

Question:

Anh ấy làm ở đâu?

Answer:

Làm ở bệnh viện.

The subject can disappear once it is clear from context, just as you learned in B20.

9. Useful vocabulary

• ấy — that/referential element in these forms
• anh ấy — he/that anh
• chị ấy — she/that chị
• em ấy — that younger person
• cô ấy — she/that cô
• ông ấy / bà ấy — that older man/woman
• họ — they; surname in another meaning
• người đó / người kia — that person

10. Vietnam in real life

Vietnamese third-person reference can reveal how the speaker positions the person socially. This is another reason translation into English often loses information even when the basic factual meaning is preserved.

11. Common beginner mistakes

• Memorizing anh ấy = he and cô ấy = she as universal equations.
• Ignoring age/relationship when choosing a third-person form.
• Forcing pronouns where repeating the person’s name would be natural and clearer.

Try it

1. Refer to an older male person as anh ấy in one sentence.
2. Refer to an older woman appropriately.
3. Say “They live in Vietnam.”
4. Explain why one English “he” can correspond to several Vietnamese forms.

Quick recap

Vietnamese third-person reference keeps relationship information alive. Anh ấy, chị ấy, cô ấy... are useful, but they are not a simple one-to-one replacement for English “he/she”.