How to say "Happy New Year" & Wish Someone in Vietnamese

Vietnamese New Year goes by many names, Tết Ta, Tết Nguyên Đán, Tết Âm Lịch, or simply TẾT!

It is the most important and popular festival in Vietnam where everyone comes home to celebrate the new year with their families.

If you're living in Vietnam or have Vietnamese friends or family members, the best way to anticipate for Tết is to learn how to greet and wish others Happy New year in Vietnamese.

So in this lesson, you'll learn:

"Happy New Year" in Vietnamese

There are two ways that the locals often use to say "Happy New Year" during Tết.

1. Chúc mừng năm mới

This is the standard way of saying "Happy New Year" in Vietnamese, especially during your visit to others' homes, or right after the countdown.

You can use it to wish everyone, including your family members, relatives, boss, co-workers, and friends.

The word chúc means "to wish", and mừng means "glad" or "joyful". Chúc mừng together has the meaning of "to congratulate" in Vietnamese.

The word năm means "year", and mới means "new". So Năm mới literally means "new year".

2. Năm mới vui vẻ

This is another common way of saying "Happy New Year" in Vietnamese. Somehow, it doesn't sound as flashy as Chúc mừng năm mới.

The words năm mới as we know means "new year", and vui vẻ means "happy". So the whole phrase literally means "Happy New Year".

Common Vietnamese New Year Wishes

On the first few days of Tết, family members, relatives, and close family friends would wish each other health, happiness, luck, and prosperity.

Below are 10 common New Year wishes in Vietnamese that you can use yourself.

General wishes

1. Vạn sự như ý
   literally "Everything goes according to your wishes"

2. An khang thịnh vượng
   to wish for "Security, good health, and prosperity"

Career wishes

3. Công thành danh toại
   to wish someone succeed in their career like how they desire

4. Thăng quan tiến chức
   to wish someone getting the promotion at work

Money wishes

5. Phát tài phát lộc
   to wish someone become rich and prosperous

6. Tiền vô như nước
   literally "Money goes in like water"

7. Tiền ra nhỏ giọt
   literally "Money goes out like water drops"

Related

Good health wishes

For older family members or someone who is old enough to be your parent, aunt, uncle, or grandparent, you would want to wish them "good health", you can say:

8. Dồi dào sức khoẻ
   literally "Plenty of health"

9. Sống lâu trăm tuổi
   literally "Live long till 100 years old" (for elders)

10. Trẻ mãi không già
    literally "Forever young, never gets old"

For little children, you can wish them:

11. Hay ăn chóng lớn
    Eat well, grow rapidly (for kids)

Wishes to friends (casual)

The next few phrases are not that common, but they are quite casual and fun to use it to wish your siblings or friends that you are close with.

12. Tiền đầy túi, tình đầy tim
    Pocket full of money, heart full of love

If it's a male person, you can wish him to have ...

13. Một vợ, hai con, nhà ba tầng, xe bốn chỗ
    One wife, two kids, 3-level house, 4-seat car

Related

How to wish someone a "Happy New Year" in Vietnamese

Now that you know some common New Year wishes in Vietnamese, you can easily tell someone those wishes in a complete sentence by following this simple pattern:

The terms of address, or "pronouns" are words that you use to address someone in Vietnamese. You can learn about it in my free course Learn Vietnamese Basics in 1 Hour for Absolute Beginner.

Example sentences:

• Năm mới, chúc anh/chị vạn sự như ý, phát tài phát lộc
  New year, wish you get everything you wish for, become prosperous

• Năm mới, chúc ba/mẹ/ông/bà dồi dào sức khoẻ, sống lâu trăm tuổi
  New year, wish you (dad/mom/grandpa/grandma) have plenty of health, live long till 100 years old

• Năm mới, chúc con hay ăn chóng lớn
  New year, wish you (kid) eat well, grow rapidly

Besides the above phrases for new year wishes, you can also wish them more simply using the following words and literal phrases:

• sức khoẻ - health
• bình an - peace (= nothing bad would come)
• tài lộc - fortune
• công việc thuận lợi - work/job goes smoothly
• công việc thăng tiến - work/job advances
• có nhiều niềm vui - have lots of happiness

Following the given patterns, we'll have complete phrases like this to wish someone.

• Năm mới, chúc ông sức khoẻ
  New year, wish you (grandpa) health

• Năm mới, chúc anh công việc thuận lợi
  New year, wish you your work goes smoothly

• Năm mới, chúc mẹ sức khoẻ và có nhiều niềm vui
  New year, wish you (mom) health and have lots of happiness.

Related

Must-know words for Vietnamese New Year

Below is the list of common words that you would hear or see during Tết.

ăn Tết
means "to celebrate New Year"

giao thừa
means "New Year’s Eve"

pháo hoa / pháo bông
means "fireworks"

lì xì
refers to the lucky money given to the children by the adults during Tết, often in a red envelope

chúc tết
refers to the action of giving New Year wishes

nâng ly
literally "raise the glasses"

cúng / thờ cúng
means "to worship" or refers to the "offerings" for ancestors

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