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Language General Style

Sentence Structure

In many cases, English sentences should be re-structured or re-phrased when translating into Vietnamese so that they are more appropriate and natural to Vietnamese readers. Avoid using the passive voice and word-to-word translation, trying to express the source’s intention as if you’re writing the content yourself.

Example:

Use of Foreign Words

When there is a good Vietnamese word for something, use it! For example, in the context of UI/IT, “Display” is best translated as “Màn hình”, “file” is translated as “tập tin” or “tệp”, “download” is translated as “tải xuống” or “tải về”.

The English term can be used as is in case there is no Vietnamese equivalent or it’s required by the client or that term has been widely understood and used by Vietnamese people.

Examples: token, chip, video, game, ID, email, website

Numbered and Bulleted Lists

Numbered and Bulleted lists are often introduced by a main clause followed by a colon. The first word of each item should be capitalized. The appearance of punctuations at the end of each bullet may follow those used in the source language. Specifically, the bullets may end with no punctuation or a semi-colon or a period in case of complete sentences. In any case, the format used in the translation of numbered and bulleted lists should remain consistent.

Example:

Vui lòng thực hiện theo các bước sau đây:

1. Tháo vỏ trước và sau.
2. Nâng công tắc nguồn lên như hướng dẫn trong hình.

Capitalization Rules

Unless there are different instructions from the client, please follow the Vietnamese prevailing capitalization rules. Capitalization shall be applied consistently throughout the project, with the following main rules:

• Capitalize the first letter of the first syllable in a complete sentence or in a clause starting a new line.
• Capitalize the first letter of all syllables in a Vietnamese proper nouns such as the names of persons and geographical places.

Examples: Nguyễn Du, Bác Hồ, Vua Hùng, Thành Cát Tư Hãn, Hà Nội, Hà Lan, Bắc Trung Bộ, Nam Bán Cầu, Bắc Cực.

• Capitalize the first letter of the first syllable in the names of the following software interface elements: commands, dialog boxes, options, buttons, modes, and menus (unless otherwise stated).

Examples: Thoát, Tùy chọn, Tiếp theo.

• For the names of dates, holidays, months and years:
• Capitalize the first letter of all syllables in the name of a lunar year (e.g.: Mậu Tuất, Mậu Thân)
• Capitalize the first letter of the first syllable in the name of a holiday (e.g.: tết Nguyên đán, tết Trung thu, lễ Phục sinh, lễ Phật đản)
• Capitalize the first letter of the syllable indicating the date and the month (e.g.: thứ Hai, tháng Ba)
• For other cases, please refer to the latest Vietnamese capitalization rules.

Numbers, Date and Time Formats

Numbers

For Vietnamese, the decimal separator is a comma without a space and the thousands separator is a dot without a space. For numbers smaller than 1, you must always put 0 before the decimal comma.

Version numbers or part numbers must be kept the same way as in the source.

Examples:

Note: Do not start a sentence with numerals.

Standard Date Format

• Order (normally use dd/mm/yy)
• Separator (dd/mm/yy or dd-mm-yy or dd.mm.yy)

Examples:

Time Format

Both 12-hour and 24-hour clock systems can be used but consistency is required. “AM/PM” designators should be translated properly instead of using the abbreviated words “SA/CH” or leaving untranslated, unless otherwise instructed by the client. In case of limited spaces, the time can be converted to 24-hour clock system respectively.

Examples:

Currency and Units of Measurement

Currency

The currency code for the Vietnamese Dong is “VND” and its symbol is “đ”, often placed after the figure with a space. In writing other currencies, the same way should be applied unless otherwise instructed by the client.

Example: 15.000 đồng; 15.000 đ; 15.000 VND; 150 USD

Units of Measurement

Unless the client specifies that measurement conversions are required, please use the same measurements and units as the source.

There should be a non-breaking space between the value and the unit, except for the degrees (when not followed by C or F), angles and percentages.

Examples: 10 cm; 5’; 30%; 20°

Punctuation Rules

Follow Vietnamese punctuation rules. Do not use the same punctuation as the source if it is grammatically incorrect in Vietnamese language.

In typography, commas, periods, colons, semicolons, exclamation points, question marks and ellipsis immediately follow the word and are not preceded by a blank space. Periods and any other punctuation mark are followed by one space, not two.

Example:

Tin nhắn đa phương tiện có thể chứa văn bản, hình ảnh và chuông đa âm điệu (Note: No comma is used before the word “and” in this case.)

Commas

Make sure to use commas in accordance with Vietnamese grammar. Commas are required to separate the components and the clauses in a sentence.

Example:

Quotation Marks

In Vietnamese, double quotation marks (“…”) are used instead of single quotation marks (‘…’). There’s no space between the quotation marks (both open and close) and the text inside the marks. In case of quoting a speech, the quotation is introduced by a colon. The period normally goes outside the quotation marks but can be placed inside if the text quoted is a complete sentence.

Example:

Parentheses and Brackets

Similarly, there’s no space between the parentheses/brackets (both open and close) and the text inside them. Normally, the period is placed outside the parentheses/brackets. Example:

(…) và một bài viết khuyên làm cho đuôi tập tin hiện rõ để xác định các tập tin nguy hiểm đang được ngụy trang thành tập tin an toàn trong mục Thủ thuật Internet. (Xem PC World VN 6/2002, trang 92 và trang 96).

Nhấn OK, sau đó Cancel (trừ phi bạn đang muốn tự động định dạng văn bản).

Hyphen, En Dash, Em Dash

Hyphens are not widely used in Vietnamese. Most hyphens are used in foreign-rooted words or to connect the figures in a date. There are no spaces before or after hyphens. Examples: cát-xét, xy-lanh, ăng-ten, Lê-nin, ngày 31-1-2012.

The em dash (—) is not used in Vietnamese and should be replaced with the comma when translating from English language.

Example:

The en dash (–) is used in English to mark ranges. When translating into Vietnamese, a space should be added before and after the dash

Example:

Abbreviations and acronyms

Abbreviations and acronyms are not commonly used in Vietnamese. Make sure to use them only if it’s really necessary or commonly understood by Vietnamese people. There should be no space between the capitalized constituent initials. Normally, the acronyms should first appear in parentheses after the full words.

Some common abbreviated words and acronyms:

Client Style Guides – please refer to the specific instructions of the project, which should contain information on how to obtain client-specific style guides for the target language.