Đừng la.

Đừng is used to tell someone not to do something. It is very common in negative commands.

So:

• Đừng la. = Don’t yell / Don’t scold.

A useful pattern is:

• đừng + verb = don’t + verb

Examples:

• Đừng đi. = Don’t go.
• Đừng nói. = Don’t speak.
• Đừng cười. = Don’t laugh.

La usually means to yell, to shout at someone, or to scold.

So Đừng la. can mean slightly different things depending on context:

• Don’t yell.
• Don’t shout.
• Don’t scold me / him / her.

Vietnamese often leaves some information unstated if the context is already clear, so la can feel broader than one exact English verb.

In Vietnamese, subjects are often omitted when they are obvious from context.

In English, you usually need:

• Don’t yell.

In Vietnamese, it is very natural to just say:

• Đừng la.

The listener understands that the speaker is telling you not to do something. If needed, a pronoun can be added:

• Đừng la em. = Don’t scold me / Don’t yell at me.
• Mẹ đừng la. = Mom, don’t scold me.

By itself, Đừng la. is quite direct. It is not necessarily rude, but it can sound firm or blunt depending on tone of voice and who you are speaking to.

To make it softer, Vietnamese often adds words such as:

• Xin đừng la. = Please don’t yell / scold.
• Đừng la mà. = Don’t yell, please / Come on, don’t yell.
• Đừng la nữa. = Don’t yell anymore.

Politeness in Vietnamese depends a lot on:

• tone of voice
• relationship between speakers
• pronouns used
• extra softening words

A rough guide:

• đ in đừng sounds like English d
• ừng is harder for English speakers; it has a short vowel and ends with an ng sound
• la sounds roughly like lah

Tone matters too:

• đừng has a falling/heavy tone
• la has a level tone

A rough English-style approximation is:

• dưhng lah

But it is better to learn it from audio, because Vietnamese tones are very important.

Also note:

• đ and d are different letters in Vietnamese.
• Đừng starts with đ, not English d exactly, though it is often close to an English d sound.

Because đừng is used for negative commands.

Compare:

• Không la. = not yell / not shouting / no yelling
• Đừng la. = don’t yell

So:

• không is the general word for not / no
• đừng is specifically used when telling someone don’t do that

That is why Đừng la. is the natural choice here.

Yes. Very often, the object is omitted if it is understood from context.

For example, if a child says Đừng la. to a parent, it may naturally mean:

• Don’t scold me.

If the speaker wants to make it explicit, they can say:

• Đừng la con. = Don’t scold me. (said by a child)
• Đừng la em. = Don’t scold me. (said by a younger person / partner / younger sibling, depending on context)

So the short form can feel incomplete in English, but perfectly normal in Vietnamese.

It is widely understood, but usage can vary a bit by region and context.

La commonly means:

• yell
• scold

In some situations, other verbs may also be used, such as:

• hét = shout, scream
• mắng = scold
• quát = bark at, snap at, scold harshly

So depending on the exact meaning, you might also hear:

• Đừng hét. = Don’t shout/scream.
• Đừng mắng. = Don’t scold.
• Đừng quát. = Don’t snap/yell at someone.

But Đừng la. is a very natural short sentence.

Yes. You can add an object, a person being addressed, or another word to clarify the meaning.

Examples:

• Đừng la tôi. = Don’t yell at me / Don’t scold me.
• Đừng la con. = Don’t scold me. (child speaking)
• Đừng la nữa. = Don’t yell anymore.
• Mẹ, đừng la. = Mom, don’t scold me / don’t yell.

So Đừng la. is the short basic form, and you can expand it as needed.