Calling someone: name + ơi
hey (calling)
Pattern: [name or address word] + ơi!
A1 · estimatespokenShops and services
Typed without accents: oi
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
Highlighted words are what Saigon and Hà Nội say differently.
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Em ơi, tính tiền!
Excuse me, the bill please! (to a young waiter)
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Chị ơi, cho em hỏi chút.
Excuse me, can I ask you something? (to an older woman)
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Con ơi, xuống ăn cơm!
Come down for dinner! (a parent calling a child)
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Saigon
Dạ, con xuống liền.
Hà Nội
Dạ, con xuống ngay.
Coming! (the child answering)