# Làm ơn: please in Vietnamese (A2)

> Làm ơn before a verb means "please", literally "do (me) a kindness": Anh làm ơn nói chậm lại một chút. Could you please speak a bit more slowly?

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/lam-on-please/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**please**

Pattern: `(person) + làm ơn + [verb]`

Level: A2 (our estimate) · Register: polite

Typed without accents: lam on

*Làm ơn* before a verb means "please", literally "do (me) a kindness": *Anh làm ơn nói chậm lại một chút.* Could you please speak a bit more slowly? It goes after the person's word, or at the start of the sentence, and the request follows.

It's for asking someone to do something, often a stranger, and it sounds polite and a little formal: *Chị làm ơn cho em hỏi, bưu điện ở đâu?* Excuse me, could you tell me where the post office is? For "please don't", add *đừng*: *Làm ơn đừng hút thuốc ở đây.*

Said firmly, it can also sound fed up, just like an impatient English "please": *Làm ơn nói nhỏ chút!* Please keep it down!

It isn't the everyday "please" for ordering or asking for things: in a café you say *Cho em …*. With people you know, *giùm* after the verb is the friendly way to ask a favour: *Anh mở cửa giùm em nha.* *Xin* makes what you say humble, and *mời* invites someone to do something. On notices and from shop staff you'll see *vui lòng*: *Vui lòng chờ một chút.*

## Examples

- Anh làm ơn nói chậm lại một chút. — Could you please speak a bit more slowly?
- Chị làm ơn cho em hỏi, bưu điện ở đâu? — Excuse me, could you tell me where the post office is?
- Làm ơn đừng hút thuốc ở đây. — Please don't smoke here.
- Làm ơn nói nhỏ chút! — Please keep it down!

## Words in this pattern

- [làm ơn](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/lam-on/#s_lam_on): asking a favour

## Compare

- [Polite asking: xin + verb](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/xin-please/): please / may I
- [Do it for me: verb + giùm / hộ](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/giup-ho-favour/): as a favour
- [Can I have / let me: Cho tôi / cho em + noun or verb](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/cho-toi-let-me/): give me / let me

Previous in Can, must, should, want: [Please (inviting): Mời + person + verb](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/moi-invite/)
Next in Can, must, should, want: [Probably, must be: chắc (là)](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/chac-probably/)

---

Add to Vietnamese Buddy: https://app.vietnamesebuddy.com/waitlist?source=grammar%3Au_lam_on_please
In the app, the grammar points from your own class material are kept with their status, and any word you meet while reading can go into your lexicon with its audio, ready to study.