Tôi muốn tiết kiệm tiền lương.

A simple breakdown is:

• Tôi = I
• muốn = want
• tiết kiệm = to save, to economize
• tiền lương = salary, wages, pay

So the sentence structure is basically:

I + want + save + salary/pay

Natural English adds to, so it becomes I want to save my salary/pay.

Because Vietnamese does not use an infinitive marker like English to in this kind of sentence.

So:

• Tôi muốn ăn = I want to eat
• Tôi muốn học = I want to study
• Tôi muốn tiết kiệm tiền lương = I want to save my salary

After muốn, you can usually put another verb directly.

Yes, here tiết kiệm is a verb.

In this sentence, it means to save or to put aside carefully instead of spending.

It can also have a broader sense of to be economical / to economize, depending on the context. For example:

• tiết kiệm tiền = save money
• tiết kiệm thời gian = save time
• sống tiết kiệm = live frugally / live economically

So in your sentence, tiết kiệm is clearly the action to save.

Both relate to salary or pay, but there is a small nuance:

• lương = salary, pay
• tiền lương = salary money, wages, pay

In everyday Vietnamese, lương by itself is often enough and is very common:

• Lương của tôi không cao. = My salary is not high.

Tiền lương sounds a bit more explicit or slightly more formal. It is not wrong, but lương alone is often the more natural everyday word.

Vietnamese often leaves out possessive words when the meaning is already clear from context.

Since the subject is Tôi = I, listeners will usually understand that tiền lương means my salary.

So both are possible:

• Tôi muốn tiết kiệm tiền lương.
• Tôi muốn tiết kiệm tiền lương của tôi.

The second version is more explicit, but the first is perfectly understandable if the context already makes ownership obvious.

It is understandable and grammatically fine, but it can sound a little literal or textbook-like depending on what exactly you mean.

If you mean I want to put some of my salary aside, Vietnamese speakers might also say:

• Tôi muốn để dành tiền lương.
• Tôi muốn để dành lương của mình.
• Tôi muốn tiết kiệm tiền.

So your sentence is not wrong, but in everyday conversation, a speaker might choose a slightly more natural phrasing depending on the situation.

This is a very common question.

• tiết kiệm often emphasizes saving by being careful with money or resources
• để dành often emphasizes setting something aside for later

So:

• tiết kiệm tiền = save money in general
• để dành tiền = put money aside for future use

In many situations, they overlap. But if you are specifically talking about taking part of your salary and not spending it, để dành can sound especially natural.

The word order is:

Tôi / muốn / tiết kiệm / tiền lương
subject / desire verb / main verb / object

So:

• Tôi = subject
• muốn = expresses desire
• tiết kiệm = main action
• tiền lương = object of that action

This is actually quite close to English word order, except Vietnamese does not need to before the second verb.

Not always, but it is a very common and safe choice for learners.

Vietnamese pronouns depend a lot on age, relationship, and social context. In real life, people often use family-style pronouns such as:

• em
• anh
• chị
• con
• cháu

However, tôi is neutral and widely understood, so it is often used in textbooks and in situations where you want to sound polite but not overly intimate.

Here is a basic tone guide:

• Tôi — level tone
• muốn — rising tone
• tiết — rising tone
• kiệm — heavy, low, clipped tone
• tiền — falling tone
• lương — level tone

A rough syllable-by-syllable guide:

• tôi
• muốn
• tiết
• kiệm
• tiền
• lương

The hardest part for many learners is not just the tones, but also the vowel combinations such as iê, uô, and ươ. It helps to practice the sentence slowly first, then speed up naturally.