Vietnamese often refers to a third person with a social noun followed by a demonstrative: anh ấy, chị ấy, cô ấy, ông ấy, literally something like “that older-brother person,” “that older-sister person,” and so on. The noun locates the person socially; the demonstrative helps identify which person is meant. This system does work that English compresses into he, she, or they.
This page concerns identifiable third persons. It does not cover generic người ta “people/one/they”; that distinct way of backgrounding or generalizing a human participant is treated on Generic Người Ta.
The basic noun-plus-demonstrative pattern
Vietnamese demonstratives normally follow the noun or social term:
person noun or title + ấy/đó/này/kia
Anh ấy đang đợi ở sảnh.
He is waiting in the lobby.
Chị ấy viết báo cáo rất rõ ràng.
She writes reports very clearly.
Người đó gọi lại ba lần nhưng không để lại lời nhắn.
That person called back three times but left no message.
The demonstratives ấy, đó, này, and kia do not encode grammatical gender by themselves. Gender and social position come from anh, chị, cô, chú, ông, bà, or another head noun. Ấy often resumes a previously introduced person and is conventional in combinations such as anh ấy and cô ấy. Đó more transparently points to or picks out a contextually identifiable person. Này is proximal or discourse-immediate, while kia is farther away or contrasts one person with another.
| Expression | Usual job | Stance warning |
|---|---|---|
| anh ấy, chị ấy, cô ấy | anaphoric “he/she,” using a social category | the kin term still presents an age/role relation |
| người đó | that identifiable person | less relational; can sound distancing in face-to-face talk |
| người này | this person, the person at hand | can sound evaluative if used within the person’s hearing |
| người kia | that person over there / the other person | deictic or contrastive, not a neutral all-purpose “they” |
| vị ấy | that respected person | (formal/literary) |
Ấy resumes a known person
In ordinary conversation and writing, ấy is especially common after a kinship term. It signals that the listener can identify the referent from prior mention or shared context.
Tôi mới gặp chị Hạnh. Chị ấy bảo cuộc họp bị hoãn.
I just saw Hạnh. She said the meeting had been postponed.
Đây là bác sĩ Quân; anh ấy phụ trách ca trực tối nay.
This is Dr. Quân; he is in charge of tonight’s shift.
The second example calls Dr. Quân anh ấy, presenting him as an adult male in the speaker’s relational frame. In a more formal introduction, a role can be repeated instead: bác sĩ ấy “that doctor,” although this may sound more written or contrastive depending on context. A respectful occupational title is often safer than guessing a kinship category.
Vietnamese also allows zero anaphora once the person is unmistakable:
Chị Hạnh gọi lúc nãy. Bảo mai mới đến.
Hạnh called earlier. She said she won’t come until tomorrow. (the second subject is omitted in Vietnamese)
The symbol Ø is an analysis aid, not something written in Vietnamese. In natural text the second sentence simply begins Bảo. Omission is useful when repetition would be heavy, but repeat chị Hạnh or chị ấy if another plausible speaker intervenes.
Đó, này, kia point and contrast
Người đó identifies “that person” from the physical or discourse context. Người này brings a person into the immediate focus, and người kia distinguishes a more distant or contrasting person.
Nếu người đó quay lại, chị nhắn tôi ngay nhé.
If that person comes back, please let me know immediately.
Trong hai ứng viên, người này có kinh nghiệm hơn, còn người kia nói tiếng Nhật tốt hơn.
Of the two candidates, this one has more experience, while the other speaks Japanese better.
Cô kia có phải là người hướng dẫn của em không?
Is that woman over there your supervisor?
The last example uses cô kia descriptively to a third party. Calling to the woman as cô kia! would be abrupt: a third-person pointing expression is not automatically an appropriate address term. Use cô ơi when calling respectfully to a woman categorized as cô.
Demonstratives may also add stance. In cái anh này! or cái cô này!, cái plus a human expression can convey affectionate exasperation, criticism, or teasing (informal). It is not a neutral grammar template for “this man/woman.” Learners should recognize it but not use it with strangers or superiors.
Cái anh này, đã bảo mang ô mà lại quên!
Honestly, this guy—I told him to bring an umbrella and he forgot again! (informal, exasperated but possibly affectionate)
Third-person choice still reflects the speaker
English third-person pronouns mostly track gender and number. Vietnamese expressions can reveal how the speaker positions the referent relative to themself. The same woman might be chị ấy to a younger speaker, em ấy to an older speaker, cô ấy to someone framing her as an adult woman or teacher-like figure, or bà ấy when she is categorized as older.
Em đã gửi tài liệu cho chị Mai; chị ấy nói sẽ xem tối nay.
I sent the documents to Mai; she said she would look at them tonight. (younger speaker presents Mai as chị)
Tôi đã gặp cô Lan, nhưng cô ấy không nhớ tôi.
I met Ms. Lan, but she didn’t remember me.
These are not permanent labels equivalent to English female pronoun. They are contextual social descriptions. A change in workplace roles, familiarity, or acknowledged age may change the preferred term.
Compare how an interaction can be framed:
| Participant | Possible self/address term | Third-person continuation |
|---|---|---|
| relatively neutral speaker | tôi | anh ấy/chị ấy according to the relation presented |
| close peer | tớ addressing cậu | a known peer may be named, or called cậu ấy in some peer contexts |
| younger participant | em to anh/chị | anh ấy/chị ấy for the respective third person |
| inclusive group | chúng ta | the person outside it may be cô ấy/người đó |
| exclusive group | chúng tôi | the addressee is outside the “we,” whatever third-person term follows |
Neither bạn nor any other one word is a socially neutral replacement for every English you. Third-person reference makes the same point: anh ấy is not merely masculine; the anh component places the man in a relational category.
Names, titles, and demonstratives
Repeating a name is normal when it keeps reference clear or maintains an established relationship. Titles can be repeated too. Adding a demonstrative makes the expression identifying or contrastive.
Giám đốc mới đã đến. Bà ấy đang họp với phòng tài chính.
The new director has arrived. She is meeting with the finance department.
Có hai cô Hương trong danh sách; cô Hương này dạy Toán, còn cô Hương kia dạy Văn.
There are two women named Hương on the list; this Ms. Hương teaches mathematics, while the other teaches literature.
Vị is an honorific classifier for respected people in formal language. It combines naturally with roles or demonstratives in public prose, but sounds elevated in casual conversation.
Vị ấy từng giữ chức bộ trưởng trong hơn mười năm.
That distinguished person served as a minister for more than ten years. (formal/written)
A dialogue where the demonstrative changes the stance
Lan: Cậu đã gặp chị Linh chưa? Minh: Chị ấy đang nói chuyện với cô giáo ở ngoài kia. Lan: À, người mặc áo xanh đó à?
Lan: Have you met Linh? Minh: She’s talking with the teacher over there. Lan: Oh, the person in the blue shirt?
Chị ấy maintains the friend’s relational categorization of Linh. The final người ... đó identifies her by a visible description because the first speaker has not yet matched the name to the person. Replacing both expressions with a fixed translation of she would erase how reference is established.
Common Mistakes
1. Putting the demonstrative before the person noun.
❌ Đó người đang đợi chị.
Incorrect noun order for ‘that person is waiting for you.’
✅ Người đó đang đợi chị.
That person is waiting for you.
The demonstrative follows the noun: người đó, not đó người.
2. Using a pointing expression as direct address.
❌ Cô kia, cho tôi hỏi đường!
Abrupt: literally calling an unfamiliar woman ‘that woman over there.’
✅ Cô ơi, cho cháu hỏi đường với ạ.
Excuse me, ma’am, may I ask you for directions? (younger speaker to an older woman)
Remove the deictic kia and use the vocative ơi, a suitable self-term, and ạ.
3. Keeping one kin term after the social frame changes.
❌ Giám đốc mới đáng tuổi bà ngoại tôi, nhưng tôi vẫn nói với đồng nghiệp: ‘Chị ấy sẽ họp lúc ba giờ.’
Socially mismatched in the stated context: the speaker still refers to the director as chị ấy despite recognizing a much older generation.
✅ Giám đốc mới đáng tuổi bà ngoại tôi, nên tôi nói với đồng nghiệp: ‘Bà ấy sẽ họp lúc ba giờ.’
The new director is about my grandmother’s age, so I tell my colleague: ‘She has a meeting at three.’
Actual preferences vary by person and workplace, but the repair shows that the category should be reassessed, not mechanically retained.
4. Using bạn ấy as a universal translation of ‘he/she.’
❌ Bà ngoại tôi năm nay tám mươi; bạn ấy vẫn đi bộ mỗi sáng.
Inappropriate: bạn ấy recasts the speaker’s eighty-year-old grandmother as a peer/friend.
✅ Bà ngoại tôi năm nay tám mươi; bà vẫn đi bộ mỗi sáng.
My grandmother is eighty this year; she still walks every morning.
The repeated kin term bà is natural and preserves the relationship. Vietnamese often prefers that to an English-style universal pronoun.
Key Takeaways
Third-person expressions such as anh ấy, chị ấy, người đó, người này, and người kia combine social categorization with identification. Ấy commonly resumes a known person; đó, này, and kia point or contrast more overtly. Names, titles, and zero subjects remain important alternatives. Choose the expression for the relationship and discourse context, not by substituting mechanically for English he, she, or they.
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