Mời... — Inviting, offering and welcoming someone to do something

What you will learn

Mời is a central social word in Vietnamese. It can invite, offer, welcome or courteously prompt someone to do something.

1. Mời anh

• Mời anh.
• Mời chị.
• Mời bác.

In a clear situation, these short forms may be enough: please go ahead / please have some / after you, depending on context.

2. Mời + person + action

• Mời anh ngồi.
• Mời chị vào.
• Mời bác uống nước.

The action tells us what the person is being invited or courteously prompted to do.

3. Mời ăn cơm

• Mời cả nhà ăn cơm.
• Con mời ông bà ăn cơm ạ.

In family contexts, meal invitations can also express respect and acknowledgment of elders before eating.

Practice varies by family and region; do not turn one custom into a universal rule.

4. Mời does not equal only “invite”

English “invite” often refers to inviting someone to an event. Vietnamese mời is broader:

• invite someone to visit;
• offer food or drink;
• ask someone courteously to sit or enter;
• signal that someone may go ahead.

5. At a home

Mời anh vào nhà.

This can be a natural welcoming invitation to enter.

6. Offer food or drink

• Mời chị uống nước.
• Mời anh ăn bánh.

The speaker is not necessarily hosting a formal event. Mời works in small everyday offers.

7. Mời and forms of address

Just as in other social sentences, mời needs a socially appropriate person term when one is stated:

• Mời cô ngồi.
• Mời chú dùng trà.

The address system remains active.

8. A service context

Staff may say:

• Mời anh vào.
• Mời chị ngồi chờ một chút.

Here mời adds courtesy to an instruction or guidance.

9. Mời as “my treat” is a different extension

You may later hear:

Hôm nay tôi mời.

This can mean the speaker is treating/paying. It is a useful extension, but B86 focuses on invitations and offers rather than payment customs.

10. A short conversation

Chủ nhà: Chị vào đi. Mời chị ngồi.

Khách: Cảm ơn chị.

Chủ nhà: Mời chị uống nước.

Khách: Vâng, cảm ơn chị.

11. Do not force mời into every invitation

Friends can invite each other with other patterns:

Tối nay đi ăn nhé.

This can be perfectly natural without mời. The social function and relationship decide the wording.

12. Respect and warmth

Mời can sound formal, respectful, hospitable or simply routine depending on situation. Tone and address help determine which.

13. Useful patterns

• Mời [person].
• Mời [person] + action.
• Mời ... ăn/uống.
• Con/cháu mời ... ạ.

14. Common beginner mistakes

• Translating every mời as “invite to an event”.
• Using it in every casual invitation between friends.
• Ignoring the relationship term.
• Presenting one family meal custom as universal across Vietnam.

Try it

1. Invite an older guest to sit.
2. Offer someone water.
3. Give a respectful family meal invitation.
4. Give one casual invitation where mời is not necessary.

Quick recap

Mời can invite, offer, welcome or courteously prompt. Its exact English translation changes with the action, relationship and situation.