# Trưởng + unit / office + trưởng: head of in Vietnamese

> Trưởng means "head, chief". It joins a word for a group or an office to name the person in charge, either before or after that word, and each title has…

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/truong-head/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**head of**

Pattern: `trưởng + [unit] · [office] + trưởng`

Level: A2 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: truong

Situations: [At work](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/?use=work)

*Trưởng* means "head, chief". It joins a word for a group or an office to name the person in charge, either before or after that word, and each title has its own fixed order.

Before: *trưởng phòng* (head of department, the manager you report to), *trưởng nhóm* (team leader), *trưởng ban* (head of a committee), *trưởng khoa* (head of a university faculty).

After: *hiệu trưởng* (head teacher, principal), *lớp trưởng* (class monitor), *đội trưởng* (team captain), *bếp trưởng* (head chef), *bộ trưởng* (government minister). This order, with *trưởng* last, comes from Chinese, and you'll meet it often in the news.

There's no rule you can apply to a new word, so learn each title whole. They're easy to spot, though: a word for a person that starts or ends with *trưởng* names whoever is in charge. *Nhà* and *viên* name a profession or a member; *trưởng* names the one at the top.

At work, people rarely use the title to someone's face. They call the manager *anh* or *chị* with a name, and talk about *sếp*, the boss: *Sếp em khó lắm.* My boss is very strict.

## Examples

- Chị Hoa là trưởng phòng của em. — Hoa is my manager.
- Thầy hiệu trưởng trường em vui tính lắm. — The head teacher at my school is very good-humoured.
- Anh Minh làm trưởng nhóm được hai năm rồi. — Minh has been team leader for two years.
- Hồi đi học em là lớp trưởng. — At school I was class monitor.

Previous in How words are built: [Events and sessions: cuộc + word, buổi + word (cuộc họp, buổi học)](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/cuoc-event-noun/)
Next in How words are built: [Members and staff: word + viên (nhân viên, hội viên)](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/vien-member/)

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