He, she the Southern way: ảnh, chỉ, ổng, bả

In Saigon, anh ấy (he) and chị ấy (she) fold into one syllable with the hỏi tone, the hook above the vowel: ảnh, chỉ. Other family words do the same: ông ấy becomes ổng, bà ấy becomes bả, cô ấy becomes cổ, and em ấy becomes ẻm. People write them this way in messages, and you'll hear them all day.

Use the folded word for someone you'd call by the plain one. A man you call anh is ảnh when you talk about him; a woman you call chị is chỉ. Ổng and bả, for an older man and woman, are casual, so they suit a chat among friends better than a formal setting. For several people, put mấy in front: mấy ảnh (they).

Not every word folds: chú and con never do. For a man your father's age, say chú ấy or chú with his name.

The tone is the only difference, so listen for it: anh means "you" or "I", ảnh means "he". The same goes for chị and chỉ. Some folded words are also everyday words: chỉ also means "only" (chỉ có hai người), and ảnh means "photo"; the sentence tells you which. In Hà Nội the words don't fold; you'll hear anh ấy and chị ấy.