Insisting, Northern style: … cơ, cơ mà

This one belongs to Hà Nội. Northern speakers often end a sentence with cơ; Saigon speakers rarely do. You'll meet it from Northern friends and colleagues, and in films and on TV, so it's worth recognising, but you don't need to say it. Saigon has no single word for it: where Hà Nội says cơ, Saigon uses mà to insist, lận after a big amount, and Hả? or Dạ? to ask again.

Cơ insists on the right one, not what someone else picked or thought. A child pointing past a toy says Con muốn cái kia cơ! I want that one! It can sound coaxing, the way a child asks. After an amount, it means "a whole …": Vé máy bay hết năm triệu cơ! The plane ticket cost a whole five million! In Saigon, that's tới năm triệu lận.

Cơ mà at the end means "but you said" or "but I told you": Anh bảo sẽ đến cơ mà! But you said you'd come! In Saigon, a plain mà does that job: Anh nói sẽ tới mà! At the start of a sentence, Cơ mà … is simply a casual "but".

In a question, cơ asks someone to say it again. Gì cơ? and Sao cơ? both mean "Sorry, what?" A Saigon speaker says Hả?, or politely Dạ?