You already know enough Vietnamese to order food and get a Grab. Then somebody asks you what you think — about the new coffee shop, about your landlord, about whether it's going to rain — and you freeze. Good news: Saigon people give opinions with about four phrases and a lot of cushioning. Let's get you comfortable.
Listen to two friends walking out of a restaurant in District 3:
Notice nobody said "in my opinion." Nobody said "I believe that." They said tui thấy — "I see / I feel" — and then softened it with cũng and hơi. That's the whole game.
Quick answer: In Saigon, tui thấy… ("I feel/see…") is the default way to give an opinion — and adding a small cushion word like cũng, hơi or chắc is what keeps you sounding friendly instead of bossy.
The four openers you actually need
These are not four levels of formality. They're four different flavours, and Saigon people mix them all day.
Quick feel for when to use which:
- tui thấy — your gut reaction to something you experienced. Food, weather, a movie, a person. Use this 70% of the time.
- tui nghĩ là — your guess or reasoning about a situation. Slightly more "brain", less "gut".
- theo tui — you're recommending a plan. Useful in meetings, in group chats, when the group is deciding something.
- đối với tui — you're marking it as personal taste on purpose, often when you know others disagree.
Local tip
Want to sound extra natural? Double the subject: Tui thì tui thấy hơi chán. ("Me personally, I found it kinda boring.") That little tui thì tui… is pure spoken Saigon and it instantly signals "this is just my take, not the truth."
Move 1: soften the opinion itself
Vietnamese doesn't soften with long polite sentences. It softens with tiny words dropped right next to the adjective. Learn these five and you'll never sound harsh again.
Compare the raw version with the cushioned version. Same information, totally different temperature:
Move 2: leave room for other people
This is the move that makes locals go "oh, this foreigner gets it." You give your opinion, then hand the floor back. Three ready-made tails:
Move 3: disagree without being rude
Here's the Saigon formula, and it's beautifully simple: agree a little first, then pivot with mà. You almost never open with a flat "no."
Common mistake
Learners translate "in my opinion" into something like theo ý kiến của tui and use it in every chat message. It's not wrong, it's just… a school essay. Nobody says that over bún bò. Say tui thấy or theo tui and save the long version for a written report.
Move 4: give an opinion when you're honestly not sure
Half of real conversation is opinions you're only 60% sure about. Vietnamese has lovely low-commitment openers for exactly this.
That last one, nói sao ta… followed by kiểu…, is your thinking-out-loud filler. Use it while your brain catches up. It's the Saigon equivalent of "I dunno, it's like…"
Strong opinions (yes, you're allowed)
Softening is the default, not a law. When you love something, go all in:
North vs South: same idea, different words
This topic really does split by dialect, mostly because the word for "I" changes and so do the softening particles.
| What you mean | Southern (Saigon) | Northern (Hanoi) |
|---|---|---|
| casual "I" among friends | tui / mình | tớ / mình |
| I think / I feel | tui thấy | tớ thấy |
| in my view | theo tui / đối với tui | theo tớ / đối với mình |
| not / no | hông | không |
| softening tail on your opinion | nha / nghen / hen | nhé / nhá |
| …right? (fishing for agreement) | ha? / hen? | nhỉ? |
| …rather than | chớ hông phải | chứ không phải |
| that's my take | ý tui vậy đó | ý tớ thế đấy |
Good to know
tui is warm and casual — perfect with friends, colleagues your age, the coffee lady you see every morning. Talking to someone clearly older? Swap it for con or em and keep everything else the same: Dạ con thấy cũng được á cô. The opinion structure never changes, only the pronoun.
Put it together: one real conversation
Try it yourself
- Say "I think that shirt is a bit expensive" using tui thấy + a softener.
- Politely disagree with "let's leave at 5pm" — agree first, then pivot.
- Say "For me, iced tea is better than iced coffee."
- Give a not-sure opinion: "I think it's going to rain, but I'm not sure."
- Hand the floor back after your opinion in two different ways.
Answers: 1. Tui thấy cái áo đó hơi mắc. · 2. Ừ cũng được, mà tui thấy đi sớm chút cho đỡ kẹt xe. · 3. Đối với tui, trà đá ngon hơn cà phê đá. · 4. Tui hông chắc nữa, mà chắc là chiều nay mưa. · 5. Ý tui vậy đó, còn bạn thấy sao? / Tui thấy vậy, mà tùy người ha.
Frequently asked questions
Is tui thấy too informal for work?
Not at all, as long as your pronoun fits the person. In a normal Saigon office, colleagues say em thấy… or tui thấy… all day in meetings. Only in written reports would you go formal.
What's the difference between tui thấy and tui nghĩ là?
Thấy is impression: you tasted it, watched it, sat in it. Nghĩ là is reasoning or prediction about something you can't directly see. "This coffee is too sweet" = thấy. "He probably forgot" = nghĩ là.
Can I drop the là in tui nghĩ là?
Yes, and people often do: Tui nghĩ ổng quên rồi. Keeping là just makes the pause a bit clearer. Both sound completely natural.
Do I have to soften everything?
No. Soften when your opinion is negative, when you're disagreeing, or when you're talking to someone you don't know well. Praise needs no cushion — go big.
Is đối với tui too heavy for chatting?
It's a touch more deliberate than tui thấy, but it's normal in speech. Use it when you want to flag "this is purely my taste" — favourite food, favourite music, favourite district.
What's the fastest way to make this automatic?
Speaking practice with someone who'll correct your cushion words. That's exactly what our teachers do — you can learn Southern Vietnamese online with SVFF in 1-on-1 lessons and get this fixed in a couple of sessions.
Learn Southern Vietnamese online with people who actually speak it
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- Listen to the SVFF podcast — real Southern Vietnamese, free.
- Book a free trial lesson — 30 minutes 1-on-1 with a native Saigon teacher.
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