# Tiếc là: unfortunately, it's a pity in Vietnamese (A2)

> Tiếc is the feeling that something good didn't happen or can't: a pity, a shame. Tiếc là opens a sentence like "unfortunately": Tiếc là hôm đó em bận.

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/tiec-la-unfortunately/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**unfortunately, it's a pity**

Pattern: `(Rất) tiếc là + [sentence] · Rất tiếc, [sentence] (polite refusal) · Tiếc quá!`

Level: A2 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: tiec la, rat tiec

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

*Tiếc* is the feeling that something good didn't happen or can't: a pity, a shame. *Tiếc là* opens a sentence like "unfortunately": *Tiếc là hôm đó em bận.* Unfortunately I'm busy that day. *Tiếc là trời mưa, mình không đi biển được.* Shame it's raining, we can't go to the beach.

*Rất tiếc* is the polite version. It's what you'll hear from hotels, shops and offices when the answer is no: *Rất tiếc, hôm nay hết phòng rồi ạ.* I'm sorry, we're fully booked today. It says sorry without taking the blame; when something is your fault, apologise with *xin lỗi*. *Em rất tiếc* can also answer a friend's bad news, like "I'm so sorry".

On its own, *Tiếc quá!* means "What a shame!" or "Too bad!": *Hết vé rồi hả? Tiếc quá!* Sold out? What a shame! (in Hà Nội, *à*).

Like *thật ra* or *nói chung*, *tiếc là* tells the listener how to take the news before they hear it. Its opposite is *may mà*, "luckily".

## Examples

- Tiếc là hôm đó em bận. — Unfortunately I'm busy that day.
- Tiếc là trời mưa, mình không đi biển được. — Shame it's raining, we can't go to the beach.
- Rất tiếc, hôm nay hết phòng rồi ạ. — I'm sorry, we're fully booked today.
- Saigon: Hết vé rồi hả? Tiếc quá! | Hà Nội: Hết vé rồi à? Tiếc quá! — Sold out? What a shame!

## Compare

- [Luckily: may (mà), may là](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/may-ma-luckily/): fortunately
- [Opening with your view: thật ra, rõ ràng là, nói chung](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/stance-openers/): actually / clearly / in general

Previous in Words at the start and end of a sentence: [Oh, by the way: À, … at the start](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/a-initial-oh/)
Next in Words at the start and end of a sentence: [Wishing someone well: chúc + person + wish](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/chuc-wish/)

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