# Ơi: hey (calling) in Vietnamese (A1)

> Put ơi after a name or an address word to call someone: Lan ơi! Chị ơi! It's how you get someone's attention, like "Excuse me!" or calling a name across…

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/oi-calling/ · Updated 2026-11-09

**hey (calling)**

Pattern: `[name or address word] + ơi!`

Level: A1 (our estimate) · Register: everyday · Medium: spoken

Typed without accents: oi

Situations: [Shops and services](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/?use=service)

Put *ơi* after a name or an address word to call someone: *Lan ơi!* *Chị ơi!* It's how you get someone's attention, like "Excuse me!" or calling a name across a room, and it's friendly and polite.

Use the word you'd use for "you": *em ơi* for a young waiter, *chị ơi* for a woman at a stall, *anh ơi* for a man a little older, *mẹ ơi* for your mum. *Em ơi, tính tiền!* is how you ask for the bill in a Saigon café.

Calling out a bare name, or *Này!*, can sound sharp, even rude, unless you're close friends or much older (a parent calling a child, say). At close range, friends in Saigon say *nè* (in Hà Nội, *này*), which is casual too.

To answer someone older who calls you, say *Dạ?* An older person answers a younger one with *Ơi!* or *Gì vậy?*

You'll also hear *ơi* in *Trời ơi!*, "Oh my!", which calls out to the sky.

## Examples

- Em ơi, tính tiền! — Excuse me, the bill please! (to a young waiter)
- Chị ơi, cho em hỏi chút. — Excuse me, can I ask you something? (to an older woman)
- Con ơi, xuống ăn cơm! — Come down for dinner! (a parent calling a child)
- Saigon: Dạ, con xuống liền. | Hà Nội: Dạ, con xuống ngay. — Coming! (the child answering)

## Words in this pattern

- [ơi](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/oi-hey/#lx_oi): calling someone

## Compare

- [Respectful address: thưa + title](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/thua-respectful/): (respectful address)

Previous in Words at the start and end of a sentence: […, OK? (soft suggestion): nha / nhé](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/nhe-nha/)
Next in Words at the start and end of a sentence: [Greeting with chào + the person](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/chao-greeting/)

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