Đừng trách bé.

A natural word-by-word breakdown is:

• đừng = don’t
• trách = blame, reproach, scold
• bé = the little one / the child in this context

So the structure is basically:

• đừng + verb + object

which makes a negative command: Don’t blame the child.

Because đừng is the normal word for negative commands in Vietnamese.

• Đừng trách bé. = Don’t blame the child.
• Không trách bé is not the normal way to say that as a command.

Very roughly:

• không usually negates statements: not / do not
• đừng is used for don’t ...!

So if you want to tell someone not to do something, đừng is the right choice.

Yes. Vietnamese often leaves out the subject when it is obvious from context, especially in commands.

So Đừng trách bé really means something like:

• (You) don’t blame the child.

If you wanted to make the addressee explicit, you could say something like:

• Anh đừng trách bé.
• Chị đừng trách bé.
• Mọi người đừng trách bé.

But leaving it out is completely normal.

Not exactly. Trách is closer to:

• blame
• reproach
• hold something against someone

It can sometimes overlap with scold, but it is not exactly the same as yelling at someone.

For comparison:

• trách = blame/reproach
• mắng = scold/yell at
• đổ lỗi cho = blame someone for something

So Đừng trách bé often has the feeling of Don’t blame the child or Don’t be hard on the child, rather than specifically Don’t shout at the child.

It can mean different things depending on context.

As an adjective, bé means small/little.

But in this sentence, bé is being used like a noun, meaning something like:

• the little one
• the child
• the kid

It can also be an affectionate way to refer to a child, and in other contexts even a pet name for a loved one. But in Đừng trách bé, it most naturally means the child.

Because Vietnamese often allows short, context-based noun phrases.

• bé by itself can be enough if everyone already knows which child is being talked about.
• em bé usually means baby or infant
• đứa bé means the child / the kid, often a bit more explicit

So:

• Đừng trách bé. sounds short, natural, and often affectionate.
• Đừng trách đứa bé. is also possible, but a bit fuller.
• Đừng trách em bé. would suggest more specifically Don’t blame the baby.

Because Vietnamese does not use articles like English a / an / the in the same way.

So bé can mean:

• a child
• the child
• the little one

The exact meaning depends on context.

In Đừng trách bé, the context usually makes it clear that it means the child or that child, even though there is no separate word for the.

The pattern is:

• đừng + verb + object

So here:

• đừng = don’t
• trách = blame
• bé = the child

Vietnamese word order is generally Subject–Verb–Object, but in commands the subject is often omitted. That leaves:

• đừng + verb + object

This is very common and useful to learn.

It usually sounds fairly natural and gentle, especially because bé feels affectionate.

Đừng trách bé often sounds like:

• Please don’t blame the child
• Don’t be hard on the little one

If you wanted something stronger, Vietnamese might use other wording, such as:

• Đừng có trách bé. = more emphatic, colloquial
• Không được trách bé. = You must not blame the child

So the original sentence is simple and natural, without sounding especially harsh.

A simple learner-friendly guide:

• đ in đừng sounds like English d
• trách begins with tr, which varies by dialect but is often somewhat like ch/tr
• bé sounds roughly like beh with a rising tone

The tones are important:

• đừng has a low/falling kind of tone
• trách has a rising tone
• bé also has a rising tone

A rough approximation is:

• dung chahk beh

But that is only approximate. The biggest challenges are usually:

• the vowel in đừng
• the tones
• the tr sound

Not with bé in the usual third-person sense.

Normally bé here means the child / the little one, so the sentence means Don’t blame the child.

However, in real life, some people do refer to themselves as bé in cute or playful speech, especially in certain relationships. But that would depend heavily on context and is not the default interpretation for learners.

So unless the situation clearly shows otherwise, you should understand Đừng trách bé as Don’t blame the child.

Yes, depending on who you mean.

For example:

• Đừng trách em. = Don’t blame me / the younger person
• Đừng trách nó. = Don’t blame him/her/it
• Đừng trách con. = Don’t blame the child / me (said by a child to a parent)
• Đừng trách đứa bé. = Don’t blame the child
• Đừng trách em bé. = Don’t blame the baby

The choice depends on age, relationship, and point of view. Vietnamese is very sensitive to social relationship words, so this is an important area to get used to.