Đây là mẹ tôi — Introducing family members

What you will learn

You already know Đây là.... Now you will use that pattern to introduce family members and learn a first useful role for của.

1. Đây là + family member

• Đây là mẹ tôi. — This is my mother.
• Đây là ba tôi. — This is my father.
• Đây là anh trai tôi. — This is my older brother.
• Đây là em gái tôi. — This is my younger sister.

Notice that Vietnamese commonly places the possessor after the family noun: mẹ tôi, literally “mother I/me” in structure.

2. You often do not need của

For close family relationships, Vietnamese very naturally says:

• mẹ tôi
• anh tôi
• em gái tôi

Của is not required in these ordinary expressions.

3. Của — possession/association

Của can mark possession or association:

• điện thoại của tôi — my phone
• nhà của anh ấy — his house
• bạn của chị — her/your friend, depending on context

With kinship terms, dropping của is often more natural: mẹ tôi rather than always saying mẹ của tôi.

4. Name + relationship

Vietnamese introductions often include both relationship and name:

• Đây là chị Lan, chị gái tôi.
• Đây là anh Hùng, anh trai tôi.

The relationship tells the listener how the person fits socially, not just what they are called.

5. A short conversation

Hà: Đây là mẹ em.

John: Cháu chào cô ạ.

Mẹ Hà: Ừ, chào cháu.

Hà: Còn đây là anh trai em.

John: Chào anh.

Anh Hà: Chào em.

6. The relationship can change your own pronoun

When John speaks to Hà’s mother, he uses cháu for himself and cô for her. When he speaks to Hà’s older brother, he may use em and anh.

One person can therefore switch self-reference within the same family visit.

7. Ask who someone is

• Đây là ai? — Who is this?
• Ai đây? — Who is this?, shorter/conversational
• Anh ấy là ai? — Who is he?

8. Useful vocabulary

• đây là — this is
• của — possession/association marker
• mẹ tôi — my mother
• anh trai tôi — my older brother
• em gái tôi — my younger sister
• cháu — grandchild/younger-generation address term
• giới thiệu — introduce/introduction

9. Vietnam in real life

When introduced to someone’s family, choosing a respectful relationship term can matter more than immediately remembering the person’s name. Vietnamese social language continually asks: “What is our relationship in this situation?”

10. Common beginner mistakes

• Forcing của into every possessive phrase.
• Introducing a relative by name but ignoring the relationship term needed to speak to them.
• Using one fixed self-pronoun for every person in the room.

Try it

1. Introduce your mother or father.
2. Introduce an older sibling.
3. Say “my phone” using của.
4. Explain why mẹ tôi normally does not need của.

Quick recap

Use Đây là... to introduce relatives. Vietnamese often says mẹ tôi, anh tôi without của, while của remains useful for possession and association in many other phrases.