Contents
What's New? .................................................................................................................................... 4
New Topics ................................................................................................................................... 4
Updated Topics ............................................................................................................................ 4
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 5
About This Style Guide ................................................................................................................ 5
Scope of This Document .............................................................................................................. 5
Style Guide Conventions .............................................................................................................. 5
Sample Text ................................................................................................................................. 5
Recommended Reference Material ............................................................................................. 6
Normative References .............................................................................................................. 7
Informative References ............................................................................................................. 7
Language Specific Conventions ...................................................................................................... 8
Country/Region Standards ........................................................................................................... 8
Characters ................................................................................................................................ 8
Date ........................................................................................................................................ 14
Time ........................................................................................................................................ 16
Numbers ................................................................................................................................. 18
Sorting ..................................................................................................................................... 22
Geopolitical Concerns ................................................................................................................ 39
Grammar, Syntax & Orthographic Conventions ......................................................................... 40
Adjectives ................................................................................................................................ 40
Articles .................................................................................................................................... 41
Capitalization .......................................................................................................................... 42
Compounds ............................................................................................................................. 43
Gender .................................................................................................................................... 43
Genitive ................................................................................................................................... 44
Modifiers ................................................................................................................................. 44
Nouns ...................................................................................................................................... 45
Prepositions ............................................................................................................................ 47
Pronouns ................................................................................................................................. 48
Punctuation ............................................................................................................................. 49
Singular & Plural ..................................................................................................................... 53
Split Infinitive ........................................................................................................................... 53
Subjunctive ............................................................................................................................. 54
Symbols & Non-Breaking Spaces ........................................................................................... 54
Syntax ..................................................................................................................................... 54
Verbs ....................................................................................................................................... 55
Word Order ............................................................................................................................. 57
Style and Tone Considerations .................................................................................................. 58
Audience ................................................................................................................................. 58
Style ........................................................................................................................................ 58
Tone ........................................................................................................................................ 59
Voice ....................................................................................................................................... 59
Localization Guidelines .................................................................................................................. 61
General Considerations ............................................................................................................. 61
Abbreviations .......................................................................................................................... 61
Accessibility ............................................................................................................................ 61
Acronyms ................................................................................................................................ 61
Applications, Products, and Features ..................................................................................... 63
Frequent Errors ....................................................................................................................... 63
Glossaries ............................................................................................................................... 64
Fictitious Information ............................................................................................................... 64
Recurring Patterns .................................................................................................................. 64
Standardized Translations ...................................................................................................... 64
Unlocalized Items.................................................................................................................... 64
Using the Word Microsoft ....................................................................................................... 65
Software Considerations ............................................................................................................ 65
User Interface ......................................................................................................................... 65
Messages ................................................................................................................................ 66
Keys ........................................................................................................................................ 69
Document Translation Considerations ....................................................................................... 74
Titles ....................................................................................................................................... 74
Copyright ................................................................................................................................. 74
4
What's New?
Last Updated: February 2011
New Topics The following topics were added:
Hint about translating from English to Vietnamese for localization processes
Updates on new changes in localization information.
Updated Topics The following topics were updated:
n/a
5
Introduction
This Style Guide went through major revision in February 2011 in order to remove outdated and unnecessary
content. It contains information pertaining to all Microsoft products and services.
About This Style Guide The purpose of this Style Guide is to provide everybody involved in the localization of Vietnamese Microsoft
products with Microsoft-specific linguistic guidelines and standard conventions that differ from or are more
prescriptive than those found in language reference materials. These conventions have been adopted after
considering context based on various needs, but above all, they are easy to follow and applicable for all types of
software to be localized.
The Style Guide covers the areas of formatting, grammatical conventions, as well as stylistic criteria. It also
presents the reader with a general idea of the reasoning behind the conventions. The present Style Guide is a
revision of our previous Style Guide version with the intention of making it more standardized, more structured,
and easier to use as a reference.
The guidelines and conventions presented in this Style Guide are intended to help you localize Microsoft products
and materials. We welcome your feedback, questions and concerns regarding the Style Guide. You can send us
your feedback via the Microsoft Language Portal feedback page.
Scope of This Document This Style Guide is intended for the localization professional working on Microsoft products. It is not intended to
be a comprehensive coverage of all localization practices, but to highlight areas where Microsoft has preference
or deviates from standard practices for Vietnamese localization.
Style Guide Conventions In this document, a plus sign (+) before a translation example means that this is the recommended correct
translation. A minus sign (-) is used for incorrect translation examples.
In Microsoft localization context, the word term is used in a slightly untraditional sense, meaning the same as e.g.
a segment in Trados. The distinguishing feature of a term here is that it is translated as one unit; it may be a
traditional term (as used in terminology), a phrase, a sentence, or a paragraph.
References to interface elements really only refer to translatable texts associated with those interface elements.
Example translations in this document are only intended to illustrate the point in question. They are not a source
of approved terminology. Always check for approved translation in the Microsoft terminology database.
Sample Text
Kính gửi: anh Phan Hoàng Khiêm
33 Trƣơng Vĩnh Ký
6
Mỹ Tho - Tiền Giang
Tel: 073 880 479
Hà Nội ngày 1/11/2000
Anh Khiêm thân mến,
Về vấn đề dịch sách, xin anh thông cảm cho là những sách tôi đã dịch trƣớc hết là để phục vụ cho hiểu biết
của mình, để cho mình hiểu thật thấu đáo thì phải viết ra. Anh nói đúng đấy, đây là việc chuyển ngữ, không phải
dịch sách. Và quan điểm của tôi là phản ánh trung thành hết mức với nguyên bản, kể từ cách hành văn, kể từ
phong cách của tác giả, kể từ từng câu chữ. Tôi không có khả năng tạo ra đƣợc những câu nói hay hơn tác giả.
Tôi chỉ cố gắng để làm cho câu tiếng Việt sát từng từ của câu gốc. Tuy nhiên khi làm điều này, câu tiếng Việt cứ
tự nhiên tuôn ra mà tôi chẳng phải trau chuốt gì. Tôi cảm nhận trực tiếp tình yêu và tấm lòng của ngƣời nói để nói
lại trong tiếng Việt. Cho nên mặc dù câu văn có theo kiểu nƣớc ngoài, có vẻ không Việt văn, thì cũng không sao.
Điều cơ bản là linh hồn của những từ đó đƣợc chuyển sang tiếng Việt.
Xin anh cứ cảm nhận trực tiếp tình cảm của ngƣời nói. Đây là những bản kinh nguyên gốc do ngƣời chứng
ngộ thốt ra, cho nên nó phải đƣợc phản ánh trung thành nhất trong mọi ngôn ngữ, trong tiếng Việt. Cho dù có
cách nói tiếng Việt có thể hay hơn cho câu ấy, tôi cũng không chọn cách nói đó, tôi xin giữ nguyên tƣơng ứng
từng từ với các câu trong bản gốc. Điều cơ bản là ngƣời đọc cảm nhận chính tác giả, cái vô lời xuyên qua câu
chữ. Còn nếu ta chƣa hiểu đƣợc điều ngụ ý trong đó, thì đấy là chúng ta phải cố gắng nâng mình lên cao hơn để
hiểu, chứ không thể hạ thấp những lời đã nói bằng cách lí giải của riêng chúng ta.
Việc ham thích đọc sách và tìm hiểu những cách nghĩ mới, cách sống mới là quan trọng, nhƣng chƣa đủ.
Ngƣời ta phải đƣợc biến đổi sau khi đọc qua những sách này. Những sách này chính là những lời xuyên thấu để
làm thay đổi tận gốc rễ cuộc đời chúng ta, để làm cho con ngƣời cũ chết đi và con ngƣời mới hoàn toàn trong
trẻo sinh ra. Cuộc sống chỉ có thể tốt lên, khi ngƣời ta đã tự biến đổi tâm thức mình theo hƣớng nhƣ vậy.
Mong rằng anh đọc sách và đi vào những chiều sâu nhƣ thế của chính bản thân mình. Điều đó sẽ là niềm
hạnh phúc vô biên của sự tồn tại.
Thân mến,
Ngô Trung Việt
Viện Công nghệ Thông tin
18 Hoàng Quốc Việt
Hà Nội - Việt Nam
Chỉnh lại ngày 20/4/2006 lúc 18:10
Recommended Reference Material Use the Vietnamese language and terminology as described and used in the following publications.
7
Normative References
These normative sources must be adhered to. Any deviation from them automatically fails a string in most cases.
When more than one solution is allowed in these sources, look for the recommended one in other parts of the
Style Guide.
1. Từ điển Tiếng Việt 2008 - Trung tâm Từ điển học và Nhà xuất bản Đà Nẵng phát hành năm 2008.
2. Từ điển Chính tả - Hoàng Phê – Trung tâm Từ điển học và Nhà xuất bản Đà Nẵng phát hành năm 2006.
3. Chính tả tiếng Việt - Hoàng Phê - Trung tâm Từ điển học và Nhà xuất bản Đà Nẵng, phát hành năm 2003
4. Từ điển Lạc Việt MTD2002 created and distributed by LacViet Computing Corporation. http://www.lacviet.com.vn/lcmsweb/Default.aspx?pageid=353
5. Từ điển Tin học - Điện tử - Viễn thông Anh - Việt và Việt Anh – Nhà xuất bản Khoa học Kỹ thuật phát hành năm 2005
Informative References
These sources are meant to provide supplementary information, background, comparison, etc.
1. http://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trang_Ch%C3%ADnh
2. Từ điển Giải thích Thuật ngữ Công nghệ thông tin Anh – Anh - Việt – Tác giả Trƣơng Văn; Quốc Bình – Nhà xuất bản Thống Kê phát hành năm 2005
3. Unikey software, http://www.unikey.org/
8
Language Specific Conventions
This part of the style guide contains information about standards specific to Vietnamese.
Country/Region Standards
Characters
Country/region Vietnam
Lower-case characters a, ă, â, b, c, d, đ, e, ê, g, h, i, k, l, m, n, o, ô, ơ, p, q, r, s, t, u, ƣ, v, x, y
Upper-case characters A, Ă, Â, B, C, D, Đ, E, Ê, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, Ô, Ơ, P, Q, R, S, T, U, Ƣ, V, X, Y
Characters in caseless
scripts n/a
Extended Latin characters ă, â, đ, ê, ô, ơ, ƣ
Ă, Â, Đ, Ê, Ô,Ơ, Ƣ
Note on alphabetical order Alphabetical order is based on the list above of letters in the alphabet.
Total number of characters 29 letters, totally 58 in all lower and upper cases
Unicode codes
A 0041
a 0061
0041, 0301
á 0061, 0301
0041, 0300
à 0061, 0300
 00c2
â 00e2
Ă 0102
ă 0103
0041, 0303
ã 0061, 0303
ấ 00e2, 0301
00c2, 0300
00e2, 0300
0102, 0301
ắ 0103, 0301
9
Country/region Vietnam
0102, 0300
ằ 0103, 0300
00c2, 0303
00e2, 0303
0102, 0303
ẵ 0103, 0303
0041, 0309
ả 0061, 0309
00c2, 0309
00e2, 0309
0102, 0309
ẳ 0103, 0309
0041, 0323
ạ 0061, 0323
00c2, 0323
ậ 00e2, 0323
0102, 0323
ặ 0103, 0323
B 0042
b 0062
C 0043
c 0063
D 0044
d 0064
Đ 0110
đ 0111
E 0045
e 0065
0045, 0301
0065, 0301
0045, 0300
0065, 0300
Ê 00ca
ê 00ea
10
Country/region Vietnam
0045, 0303
ẽ 0065, 0303
00ca, 0301
ế 00ea, 0301
00ca, 0300
ề 00ea, 0300
00ca, 0303
ễ 00ea, 0303
0045, 0309
ẻ 0065, 0309
00ca, 0309
ể 00ea, 0309
0045, 0323
0065, 0323
00ca, 0323
ệ 00ea, 0323
F 0066
f 0046
F 0047
G 0067
g 0048
H 0068
h 0049
I 0069
i 0049, 0301
0069, 0301
í 0049, 0300
0069, 0300
ì 0049, 0303
0069, 0303
ĩ 0049, 0309
0069, 0309
ỉ 0049, 0323
0069, 0323
11
Country/region Vietnam
ị 004a
J 006a
j 004b
K 006b
k 004c
L 006c
l 004d
M 006d
m 004e
N 006e
n 004f
O 006f
o 004f, 0301
006f, 0301
ó 004f, 0300
006f, 0300
ò 00d4
Ô 00f4
ô 004f, 0303
006f, 0303
00d4, 0301
00f4, 0301
ố 00d4, 0300
00f4, 0300
ồ 00d4, 0303
00f4, 0303
004f, 0309
006f, 0309
00d4, 0309
00f4, 0309
ổ 01a0
Ơ 01a1
ơ 004f, 0323
006f, 0323
12
Country/region Vietnam
ọ 01a0, 0301
01a1, 0301
ớ 01a0, 0300
01a1, 0300
ờ 00d4, 0323
00f4, 0323
ộ 01a0, 0303
01a1, 0303
01a0, 0309
01a1, 0309
01a0, 0323
01a1, 0323
ợ 0050
P 0070
p 0051
Q 0071
q 0052
R 0072
r 0053
S 0073
s 0054
T 0074
t 0055
U 0075
u 0055, 0301
0075, 0301
ú 0055, 0300
0075, 0300
ù 0055, 0303
0075, 0303
ũ 0055, 0309
0075, 0309
ủ 01af
Ƣ 01b0
13
Country/region Vietnam
ƣ 0055, 0323
0075, 0323
ụ 01af, 0301
01b0, 0301
ứ 01af, 0300
01b0, 0300
ừ 01af, 0303
01b0, 0303
ữ 01af, 0309
01b0, 0309
ử 01af, 0323
01b0
ự 0323
V 0056
v 0076
W 0057
w 0077
X 0058
x 0078
y 0079
0059, 0301
ý 0079, 0301
0059, 0300
0079, 0300
0059, 0303
ỹ 0079, 0303
0059, 0309
0079, 0309
0059, 0323
0079, 0323
Z 005a
z 007a
In September 2001, Vietnam's Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment
(MOSTE) issued the TCVN 6909:2001 standard, which is based on ISO/ICE
14
Country/region Vietnam
10646 and Unicode 3.1, as the new national standard for Vietnamese 16-bit
character encoding.
Notes
The letters "F", "J", "W" and "Z" is not in the Vietnamese alphabet, but may
encounter in words borrowed from foreign languages. "W" is sometimes used in
abbreviations for "Ƣ". There are suggestions that these four letters should be
added into the alphabet for legal use to meet the development of modern
Vietnamese language.
Vietnamese script Quoc ngu has 6 tones.
Apart from the base form of a syllable without tone mark, there exist also 5 other
forms with tone marks included:
grave (huyền), hook above (h i), tidle (ngã), acute (sắc), dot below (nặng).
Tone marks belong to the syllable and are put above or below one vowel letter of
each syllable.
The precise position of tone mark in a vowel is decided by 4 rules, mentioned at
Appendix B.5 Rules for tone mark position in syllables.
Date
Country/region Vietnam
Calendar/Era Gregorian calendar and Lunar calendar
First Day of the Week Monday
First Week of the Year The week with the first Monday after 1 January
Separator /
Default Short Date
Format
d/M/yy
Example 17/3/11
Default Long Date Format d/M/yyyy
Example 17/3/2011
Additional Short Date
Format 1 d-M-yy
Example 17-3-2011
Additional Short Date
Format 2 n/a
15
Country/region Vietnam
Example n/a
Additional Long Date
Format 1 ngày d tháng M năm yyyy
Example ngày 17 tháng 3 năm 2011
Additional Long Date
Format 2 ngày d tháng MMMM năm yyyy
Example ngày 17 tháng ba năm 2011
Leading Zero in Day Field
for Short Date Format No
Leading Zero in Month
Field for Short Date
Format
No
No. of digits for year for
Short Day Format 2
Leading Zero in Day Field
for Long Date Format No
Leading Zero in Month
Field for Long Date
Format
No
Number of digits for year
for Long Day Format 4
Date Format for
Correspondence ngày d tháng M năm yyyy
Example ngày 17 tháng 3 năm 2011
Notes The Additional Long Date Format 2 rarely used recently. The names of months in
the Additional Long Date Format 2 are written in lower case.
Abbreviations in Format
Codes
d is for day, number of d's indicates the format (d = digits without leading zero, dd =
digits with leading zero, ddd = the abbreviated day name, dddd = full day name)
M is for month, number of M's gives number of digits. (M = digits without leading
zero, MM = digits with leading zero, MMM = the abbreviated name, MMMM = full
name)
y is for year, number of y's gives number of digits (yy = two digits, yyyy = four digits)
16
Time
Country/region Vietnam
24 hour format Yes
Standard time format H:mm:ss
Standard time format
example 15:07:02
Time separator Colon (:)
Time separator examples 15:07:02
Hours leading zero No (Leading zero is not compulsory)
Hours leading zero example 3:24:12
String for AM designator SA
String for PM designator CH
Notes n/a
Days
Country/region: Vietnam
Day Normal Form Abbreviation
Monday thứ hai t2
Tuesday thứ ba t3
Wednesday thứ tƣ t4
Thursday thứ năm t5
Friday thứ sáu t6
Saturday thứ b y t7
Sunday chủ nhật cn
Standard time format
17
First Day of Week: Thứ hai
Is first letter capitalized?: No
Notes: In Vietnamese names of days of week are considered as common noun, so first letter is not capitalized.
Example 1: First letter is capitalized as it is beginning of sentence (Chủ nhật).
Chủ nhật này này tôi về quê (This Sunday I am going to my country)
Example 2: In the middle of sentence the first letter is not capitalized (chủ nhật)
Tôi sinh vào chủ nhật, 29 tháng 12 năm 1960 (I was born on Sunday 29 December 1960)
Months
Country/region: Vietnam
Month Full Form Abbreviated Form Long Date Form
January tháng một 1 tháng 1
February tháng hai 2 tháng 2
March tháng ba 3 tháng 3
April tháng tƣ 4 tháng 4
May tháng năm 5 tháng 5
June tháng sáu 6 tháng 6
July tháng b y 7 tháng 7
August tháng tám 8 tháng 8
September tháng chín 9 tháng 9
October tháng mƣời 10 tháng 10
November tháng mƣời một 11 tháng 11
December tháng mƣời hai 12 tháng 12
Is first letter capitalized?: No
Notes: Names of months in Lunar calendar
Tháng giêng
Tháng hai
Tháng ba
Tháng tƣ
Tháng năm
Tháng sáu
Tháng b y
Tháng tám
18
Tháng chín
Tháng một
Tháng chạp
In Vietnamese names of months are considered as common noun, so first letter is not capitalized
Numbers
Country Vietnam
Decimal separator ,
Description Comma
Examples 100,05 15900,05 đ
Entire part leading zero Yes
Examples 0,123
Digit groupping symbol .
Description Dot
Examples 123.456.789
Negative sign symbol -
Description Minus
Examples -123,456
Notes n/a
Month is not capitalized in
date format
19
Phone Numbers
Country/
region
International
Dialing
Code
Area
Codes
Used?
Number of
Digits – Area
Codes
Separator Number of
Digits –
Domestic
Digit
Groupings –
Domestic
Vietnam
+84 Yes 2; 3 Space 8; 9 (##) #### ####;
(###) ### ####
Country/
region
Number of
Digits –
Local
Digit
Groupings
– Local
Number of
Digits – Mobile
Digit
Groupings –
Mobile
Number of
Digits –
International
Digit
Groupings –
International
Vietnam 8
#### ####
9; 10 (when
calling from
overseas)
10; 11 (from
calling from
inside Vietnam)
(###) ######
11; 12 +84 # ####
####: +84 ##
#### ####
Notes: n/a
Addresses
Country/region: Vietnam
Disclaimer: Please note that the information in this entry should under no circumstances be used in examples as
fictitious information.
Address Format:
1. [Title/Honorific] FamilyName MiddleName Name
2. [CompanyName]
Dot is used as digits
grouping symbol
20
3. Address1
4. [Address2]
5. City
6. Country
Example Address:
Ông. Nguyễn Thế Trung
DTT Technology Group
141 Lê Du n
Hoàn Kiếm
Hà nội
Việt Nam
Local Postal Code Format: n/a
Notes:
[Title/Honorific]
Ông/Bà/Cô/Anh/Chị/TS (Tiến sĩ)/GS (Giáo sƣ)/BS (Bác sĩ)/PGS (phó Giáo sƣ)/ThS (Thạc sí) .
Currency
Country/region Vietnam
Currency Name Dong; International Currency Code: VND
Currency Symbol ₫
Currency Symbol Position After
Positive Currency Format 123.456.789,00 ₫
Negative Sign Symbol Minus (-)
Negative Currency Format -123.456.789,00 ₫
Decimal Symbol ,
Number of Digits after Decimal 2
Digit Grouping Symbol ###.###.###,##
Number of Digits in Digit
Grouping 3
Positive Currency Example ###.###.###,## ₫
Negative Currency Example -###.###.###,## ₫
ISO Currency Code ISO 4217
Currency Subunit Name hao
21
Currency Subunit Symbol xu
Currency Subunit Example 100,45 = 100VND, 4 hao, 5 xu
Digit Groups
Country/region: Vietnam
Decimal Separator: ,
Decimal Separator Description: Comma
Decimal Separator Example: 100,05; 15900,05 đ
Thousand Separator: .
Thousand Separator Description: Period
Thousand Separator Example: 100.000; 100.000 đ
Notes: n/a
Period is used in product versions only. Example: MS-DOS 6.22; Windows 3.11
It is acceptable to omit thousand separator (dot) for numbers with 4 digits in their integer part. E.g. 1000.
Numbers not in regular text may or may not have thousand separators. For examples, values in Excel do
not have thousand separators.
Measurement Units
Metric System Commonly Used?: Yes
Temperature: Celsius
Category English Translation Abbreviation
Linear Measure Kilometer Kilôm t km
Meter M t m
Decimeter Đềxim t dm
Centimeter Xentim t cm
Currency symbol is
placed after number
22
Category English Translation Abbreviation
Millimeter Milim t mm
Capacity Hectoliter Hctôlít hl
Liter Lít l
Deciliter Đềxilít dl
Centiliter Xentilít cl
Milliliter Mililít ml
Mass Ton Tấn n/a
Kilogram Kilôgam kg
Pound Pao
Gram Gam g
Decigram Đềxigam dg
Centigram Xentigam cg
Milligram Miligam mg
English Units of
Measurement
Inch In-xơ n/a
Feet Bộ n/a
Mile Dặm n/a
Gallon Galông n/a
Notes: n/a
Percentages
The percent sign (%) in documentation (including online documents) not should be separated from the number
with a non-breaking space: 10%.
Sorting
Sorting rules
1. Capital letters and lowercase letters are equal. No distinction is made between them.
2. The extended characters ă, â, đ, ê, ô, ơ and ƣ keep their orders as their positions in the
alphabet.
3. The characters f, j, z, w are sorted as their positions in the Vietnamese alphabet.
4. In sorting, tone marks could be considered as a character and put behind the last letter of
its syllable and their sorting weights are less than all other letters' in the alphabet.
23
5. The rules for sorting Vietnamese syllable in the dictionary order are following:
Rule 1: sorting words by the order of letters in the alphabet, regardless of the tone mark in the word.
Rule 2: sorting by tone marks between the syllables of words with same consonants and vowels but different tone marks. The order between them is defined by order of tone marks.)
Character
sorting order
A 65
a 97
65, 679
á 97, 769
65, 768
à 97, 768
 194
â 226
Ă 258
ă 259
65, 771
ã 97, 771
ấ 226, 769
194, 768
226, 768
258, 769
ắ 259, 769
258, 768
ằ 259, 768
194, 771
226, 771
258, 771
ẵ 259, 771
65, 777
ả 97, 777
194, 777
226, 777
258, 777
ẳ 259, 777
65, 803
ạ 97, 803
24
194, 803
ậ 226, 803
258, 803
ặ 259, 803
B 66
b 98
C 67
c 99
D 68
d 100
Đ 272
đ 273
E 69
e 101
69, 769
101, 769
69, 768
101, 768
Ê 202
ê 234
69, 771
ẽ 101, 771
202, 769
ế 234, 769
202, 768
ề 234, 768
202, 771
ễ 234, 771
69, 777
ẻ 101, 777
202, 777
ể 234, 777
69, 803
101, 803
202, 803
25
ệ 234, 803
F 102
f 70
F 71
G 103
g 72
H 104
h 73
I 105
i 73, 769
105, 769
í 73, 768
105, 768
ì 73, 771
105, 771
ĩ 73, 777
105, 777
ỉ 73, 803
105, 803
ị 74
J 106
j 75
K 107
k 76
L 108
l 77
M 109
m 78
N 110
n 79
O 111
o 79, 769
111, 769
ó 79, 768
111, 768
26
ò 212
Ô 244
ô 79, 771
111, 771
212, 769
244, 769
ố 212, 768
244, 768
ồ 212, 771
244, 771
79, 777
111, 777
212, 777
244, 777
ổ 416
Ơ 417
ơ 79, 803
111, 803
ọ 416, 769
417, 769
ớ 416, 768
417, 768
ờ 212, 803
244, 803
ộ 416, 771
417, 771
416, 777
417, 777
416, 803
417, 803
ợ 80
P 112
p 81
Q 113
q 82
27
R 114
r 83
S 115
s 84
T 116
t 85
U 117
u 85, 769
117, 769
ú 85, 768
117, 768
ù 85, 771
117, 771
ũ 85, 777
117, 777
ủ 431
Ƣ 432
ƣ 85, 803
117, 803
ụ 431, 769
432, 769
ứ 431, 768
432, 768
ừ 431, 771
432, 771
ữ 431, 777
432, 777
ử 431, 803
432
ự 803
V 86
v 118
W 87
w 119
X 88
28
x 120
y 121
89, 769
ý 121, 769
89, 768
121, 768
89, 771
ỹ 121, 771
89, 777
121, 777
89, 803
121, 803
Z 90
z 122
Examples of
sorted words
The order of tone marks is following:
123
a
a dua
a xít
à
à ơi
à uôm
á
á hậu
á phiện
ả
ả đào
ạ
ạ ơi
ác
ác bá
ái
ái ân
ái chà
29
ái lực
ái mộ
ái nam ái nữ
...
ba đào
ba đ u sáu tay
ba đậu
ba gác
ba gạc
ba gai
...
ch u h u
ch u rìa
chấu
ch u
ch u chàng
ch u chuộc
chậu
chậu thau
...
dân sự
dân thƣờng
dân tình
dân tộc
dân tộc chủ thể
dân tộc đa số
...
...
veo
veo veo
v o
v o
v o von
vẻo
v o
30
v o vọ
...
yêu quý
yêu sách
yêu thƣơng
yếu
yếu địa
yếu điểm
yếu đuối
yếu h n
yểu
yểu điệu
yểu tƣớng
chaque
chemin
cote
Czech
irdisch
lie
lire
llama
luck
lye
myndig
pint
pylon
savoir
Sietla
subtle
symbol
verkehrt
vox
waffle
wood
yen
yuan
yucca
zoo
Zviedrija
31
zysk
List of characters with Unicode codes of TCVN 6909:2001:
Dec Hexa Character Description
32 20 SPACE Space
33 21 ! Exclamation mark
34 22 “ Double quotes
35 23 # Number sign
36 24 $ Dollar sign
37 25 % Percent mark
38 26 & Ampersand
39 27 „ Single quote
40 28 ( Opening parenthesis
41 29 ) Closing parenthesis
42 002A * Asterisk
43 002B + Plus sign
44 002C , Comma
45 002D - Minus sign - Hyphen
46 002E . Period
47 002F / Slash
48 30 0 Zero
49 31 1 One
50 32 2 Two
51 33 3 Three
52 34 4 Four
53 35 5 Five
54 36 6 Six
55 37 7 Seven
56 38 8 Eight
32
Dec Hexa Character Description
57 39 9 Nine
58 003A : Colon
59 003B ; Semicolon
60 003C < Less than sign
61 003D = Equal sign
62 003E > Greater than
63 003F ? Question mark
64 40 @ At symbol
65 41 A Letter A
66 42 B Letter B
67 43 C Letter C
68 44 D Letter D
69 45 E Letter E
70 46 F Letter F
71 47 G Letter G
72 48 H Letter H
73 49 I Letter I
74 004A J Letter J
75 004B K Letter K
76 004C L Letter L
77 004D M Letter M
78 004E N Letter N
79 004F O Letter O
80 50 P Letter P
81 51 Q Letter Q
82 52 R Letter R
83 53 S Letter S
84 54 T Letter T
85 55 U Letter U
33
Dec Hexa Character Description
86 56 V Letter V
87 57 W Letter W
88 58 X Letter X
90 005A Z Letter Z
91 005B [ Opening bracket
92 005C \ Backslash
93 005D ] Closing bracket
94 005E ^ Caret - circumflex
95 005F _ Underscore
96 60 ` Grave accent
97 61 a Letter a
98 62 b Letter b
99 63 c Letter c
100 64 d Letter d
101 65 e Letter e
102 66 f Letter f
103 67 g Letter g
104 68 h Letter h
105 69 i Letter i
106 006A j Letter j
107 006B k Letter k
108 006C l Letter l
109 006D m Letter m
110 006E n Letter n
111 006F o Letter o
112 70 p Letter p
113 71 q Letter q
114 72 r Letter r
115 73 s Letter s
34
Dec Hexa Character Description
116 74 t Letter t
117 75 u Letter u
118 76 v Letter v
119 77 w Letter w
120 78 x Letter x
121 79 y Letter y
122 007A z Letter z
123 007B { Opening brace
124 007C | Vertical bar
125 007D } Closing brace
126 007E ~ Equivalency sign - tilde
160 00A0 NBSP Non- break space
192 00C0 Letter A with grave accent
193 00C1 Letter A with acute accent
194 00C2 Â Letter Â
195 00C3 Letter A with tilde
196 00C8 Letter E with grave accent
197 00C9 Letter E with acute accent
198 00CA Ê Letter Ê
204 00CC Letter I with grave accent
205 00CD Letter I with acute accent
210 00D2 Letter O with grave accent
211 00D3 Letter O with acute accent
212 00D4 Ô Letter Ô
213 00D5 Letter O with tilde
217 00D9 Letter U with grave accent
218 00DA Letter U with acute accent
219 00DD Letter Y with acute accent
224 00E0 Letter a with grave accent
35
Dec Hexa Character Description
225 00E1 Letter a with acute accent
226 00E2 â Letter â
227 00E3 Letter a with tilde
232 00E8 Letter e with grave accent
233 00E9 Letter e with acute accent
234 00EA ê Letter ê
236 00EC Letter i with grave accent
237 00ED Letter i with acute accent
242 00F2 Letter o with grave accent
243 00F3 Letter o with acute accent
244 00F4 ô Letter ô
245 00F5 Letter o with tilde
249 00F9 Letter u with grave accent
250 00FA Letter u with acute accent
253 00FD Letter y with acute accent
258 102 Ă Letter Ă
259 103 ă Letter ă
272 110 Đ Letter Đ
273 111 đ Letter đ
296 128 Letter I with tilde
297 129 Letter i with tilde
360 168 Letter U with tilde
361 169 Letter ũ with tilde
416 01A0 Ơ Letter Ơ
417 01A1 ơ Letter ơ
431 01AF Ƣ Letter Ƣ
432 01B0 ƣ Letter ƣ
768 300 Grave (`)
769 301
36
Dec Hexa Character Description
770 302 Circumflex (^) Like in â, Â, ô, Ô
771 303
774 306 Br v k n Ă
777 309 Hook Like in Ơ, ơ , Ƣ, ƣ
795 031B Hook above Like in ả, ...
803 323 Dot below Like in ạ,
7840 1EA0 Letter A with dot below
7841 1EA1 Letter a with dot below
7842 1EA2 Letter A with hook above
7843 1EA3 Letter a with hook above
7844 1EA4 F Letter  with acute accent
7845 1EA5 Letter ấ with acute accent
7846 1EA6 Letter  with grave accent
7847 1EA7 Letter â with grave accent
7848 1EA8 Letter  with hook above
7849 1EA9 Letter â with hook above
7850 1EAA Letter  with tilde
7851 1EAB Letter â with tilde
7852 1EAC Letter  with dot below
7853 1EAD Letter â with dot below
7854 1EAE Letter Ă with acute accent
7855 1EAF Letter ă with acute accent
7856 1EB0 Letter Ă with grave accent
7857 1EB1 Letter ă with grave accent
7858 1EB2 Letter Ă with hook above
7859 1EB3 Letter ă with hook above
7860 1EB4 Letter Ă with tilde
7861 1EB5 Letter ă with tilde
7862 1EB6 Letter Ă with dot below
37
Dec Hexa Character Description
7863 1EB7 Letter ă with dot below
7864 1EB8 Letter E with dot below
7865 1EB9 Letter e with dot below
7866 1EBA Letter E with hook above
7867 1EBB Letter e with hook above
7868 1EBC Letter E with tilde
7869 1EBD Letter e with tilde
7870 1EBE Letter Ê with acute accent
7871 1EBF Letter ê with acute accent
7872 1EC0 Letter Ê with grave accent
7873 1EC1 Letter ế with grave accent
7874 1EC2 Letter Ê with hook above
7875 1EC3 Letter ế with hook above
7876 1EC4 Letter Ê with tilde
7877 1EC5 Letter ê with tilde
7878 1EC6 Letter Ê with dot below
7879 1EC7 Letter ê with dot below
7880 1EC8 Letter I with hook above
7881 1EC9 Letter i with hook above
7882 1ECA Letter I with dot below
7883 1ECB Letter i with dot below
7884 1ECC Letter O with dot below
7885 1ECD Letter o with dot below
7886 1ECE Letter O with hook above
7887 1ECF Letter o with hook above
7888 1ED0 Letter Ô with acute accent
7889 1ED1 Letter ô with acute accent
7890 1ED2 Letter Ô with grave accent
7891 1ED3 Letter ô with grave accent
38
Dec Hexa Character Description
7892 1ED4 Letter Ô with hook above
7893 1ED5 Letter ô with hook above
7894 1ED6 Letter Ô with tilde
7895 1ED7 Letter ô with tilde
7896 1ED8 Letter Ô with dot below
7897 1ED9 Letter ô with dot below
7898 1EDA Letter Ơ with acute accent
7899 1EDB Letter ơ with acute accent
7900 1EDC Letter Ơ with grave accent
7901 1EDD Letter ơ with grave accent
7902 1EDE Letter Ơ with hook above
7903 1EDF Letter ơ with hook above
7904 1EE0 Letter Ơ with tilde
7905 1EE1 Letter ơ with tilde
7906 1EE2 Letter Ơ with dot below
7907 1EE3 Letter ơ with dot below
7908 1EE4 Letter U with dot below
7909 1EE5 Letter u with dot below
7910 1EE6 Letter U with hook above
7911 1EE7 Letter u with hook above
7912 1EE8 Letter Ƣ with acute accent
7913 1EE9 Letter ƣ with acute accent
7914 1EEA Letter Ƣ with grave accent
7915 1EEB Letter ƣ with grave accent
7916 1EEC Letter Ƣ with hook above
7917 1EED Letter ƣ with hook above
7918 1EEE Letter Ƣ with tilde
7919 1EEF Letter ƣ with tilde
7920 1EF0 Letter Ƣ with dot below
39
Dec Hexa Character Description
7921 1EF1 Letter ƣ with dot below
7922 1EF2 Letter Y with grave accent
7923 1EF3 Letter y with grave accent
7924 1EF4 Letter Y with dot below
7925 1EF5 Letter y with dot below
7926 1EF6 Letter Y with hook above
7927 1EF7 Letter y with hook above
7928 1EF8 Letter Y with tilde
7929 1EF9 Letter y with tilde
8220 201C “ Opening double quotes
8221 201D ” Closing double quotes
Geopolitical Concerns Part of the cultural adaptation of the US-product to a specific market is the resolving of geopolitical issues. While
the US-product should have been designed and developed with neutrality and a global audience in mind, the
localized product should respond to the particular situation that applies within the target country/region.
Sensitive issues or issues that might potentially be offensive to the users in the target country/region may occur in
any of the following:
Maps
Flags
Country/region, city and language names
Art and graphics
Cultural content, such as encyclopedia content and other text where historical or political references may
occur
Some of these issues are relatively easy to verify and resolve: the objective should be for the localizer to always
have the most current information available. Maps and other graphic representations of countries/regions and
regions should be checked for accuracy and existing political restrictions. Country/region, city and language
names change on a regular basis and need to be checked, even if previously approved.
A thorough understanding of the culture of the target market is required for checking the appropriateness of
cultural content, clip art and other visual representations of religious symbols, body and hand gestures.
40
Guideline
As country/region and city names can change, please use the most up-to-date Vietnamese list for every release
of your product.
Grammar, Syntax & Orthographic Conventions This section includes information on how to apply the general rules of the Vietnamese language to Microsoft
products and documentation.
Adjectives
In Vietnamese, adjectives should be handled in the following manner.
1. Adjective has the syntax role to specify a noun or pronoun. Normally adjective go after noun, in the case
adjective go before noun, the meaning is changed
Example 1: Điểm yếu (weak point)
Example 2: Yếu điểm (Important point)
2. When a phrase with two (or more) adjective, the position of the adjectives in the phrase to the noun gives
the phrase different meaning.
Example 3: Cô gái đ p đi xe (Beautiful riding girl)
Example 4: Cô gái đi xe đ p (Girl riding nice car)
Example 5: Mệnh đề này có l i tiếng Việt (This sentence has Vietnamese error(s))
Example 6: Mệnh đề tiếng Việt này có l i (This Vietnamese sentence has error(s))
Example 7: Thiết kế ứng dụng đồ họa (Graphic Application Design)
Example 6: Thiết kế đồ họa ứng dụng (Application Graphic Design)
Possessive adjectives
In Vietnamese Possessive adjective is “ ” and ―của‖ is added before personal pronounce.
41
Example:
Possessive
adjective in English
Personal pronounce
in Vietnamese
Possessive
adjective in
Vietnamese
My (+) Tôi (+) Của tôi
Your (+) Bạn, anh, chị (+) Của bạn, Của
anh, Của chị
His (+) Anh ấy, ông ấy (+) Của anh ấy, Của
ông ấy
Her (+) Cô ấy, bà ấy (+) Của cô ấy, Của
bà ấy
Its (+) Nó (+) Của nó
Our (+) Chúng tôi, chúng
ta
(+) Của chúng tôi,
Của chúng ta
Your (+) Các bạn, các anh,
các chị
(+) Các bạn, các anh,
các chị
Their (+) Họ, chúng ta (+) Họ, chúng ta
Articles
General considerations
The general rule is that product names are not translated if they include the word Microsoft and/or are
trademarked (for example, Microsoft Draw or Microsoft Graph). The Microsoft PM and/or Subsidiary should
always be contacted for final approval before you translate a product or component name.
Unlocalized Feature Names
Microsoft product names and non-translated feature names are used without definite or indefinite articles in the
English language. Product names and non-translated feature names should also be treated as proper nouns in
Vietnamese.
English example Vietnamese example
Windows Mail shares your Internet Connection
settings with Internet Explorer
(+) Windows Mail chia sẻ thiết đặt kết nối Internet của
bạn với Internet Explorer
Website addresses will be sent to Microsoft (+) Địa chỉ website sẽ đƣợc gửi cho Microsoft
42
Localized Feature Names
Translated feature names are used with a definite or indefinite article as they are not treated as proper names.
English example Vietnamese example
Hide the Task Manager when it is minimized (+) Giấu Task Manager khi nó đƣợc làm tối thiểu
Check for updates in your installed Media Player's
language
(+) Kiểm cập nhật trong ngôn ngữ của Media Player
đã thiết lập
Articles for English Borrowed Terms
When faced with an English loan word previously used in Microsoft products, consider the following options:
Motivation:
o The popular English words or the words when translated cause ambiguity (OK, tab, flip-flop, ).
o The proper nouns, such as font names, font type (TrueType, Calibri, arial, time new roman ).
o The familiar words for Vietnamese (monitor, modem, ).
o Abbreviations (MS-DOS, PC, Tablet-PC, ).
o The words if translated into Vietnamese to be long (README file, Script, )
o The terms of new concepts or new technology that translation can be confusing and have unclear
meaning
Analogy:
o Vietnamese belongs to South Asia system, but with Latin characters (more extended specific
vowels and 5 tones) and there are terms and words derived from Chinese and French. In this
case there is analogy, e.g, console (mặt nghiêng, bàn điều khiển), ziczag (chữ chi or dích dắc),
Capitalization
If the first word in the English source string is capitalized, the corresponding first word in the target language
should also be capitalized. If the word in the English source string is not capitalized, the corresponding first word
in the target language should also not be capitalized, unless language-specific rules specify different
capitalization.
In Vietnamese, only the first character in a sentence is capitalized.
Proper names are capitalized the first character for each word.
First character of every sentence is
capitalized and each word of feature
name is capitalized
43
Compounds
Generally, compounds should be understandable and clear to the user. Overly long or complex compounds
should be avoided. Keep in mind that unintuitive compounds are ultimately an intelligibility and usability issue.
One principal to be remember is that when there many consecutive nouns and verbs, select the last one as noun
and consider every precedent nouns as adjectives for this noun.
The order of Vietnamese compounds is inverse in comparison to the corresponding English compounds. See
example in the below table.
English examples Vietnamese example
Internet Accounts (+) Tài khoản Internet
Logon script processing (+) Xử lí script đăng nhập
Workgroup Administrator (+) Ngƣời quản trị nhóm làm việc
Internet News Server Name (+) Tên máy phục vụ tin Internet
Gender
You should always recognize your audience‘s sensitivity to male and female stereotypes. Instead of stressing
gender differences or reinforcing stereotypical distinctions between men and women, use language that is as
neutral as possible. The neutral approach also applies to the localization of scenarios, comparisons, examples,
illustrations, and metaphors.
Create a balance when assigning roles and functions to men and women (active vs. passive roles, leading vs.
secondary roles, technical vs. non-technical professions, and so on). Scenarios, pictures, metaphors, and
comparisons should be based on areas and attributes common to both genders.
Instead of using phrases which mention the two genders separately, use a general term that includes both
genders such as ―people,‖ ―users,‖ or ―persons.‖
Avoid writing sentences that refer to a single person whose gender is unknown. You can often avoid this situation
by rewriting the sentence to make the subject plural. In cases where a reference to a single person is impossible
to avoid, do not use ―he or she,‖ ―him or her,‖ or ―his or hers.‖ Also, generally avoid the use of slashes to combine
both genders (although sometimes exceptions are made - see table below).
44
Linguistic method Example Context
Use a Neutral noun (+) person, leader, team lead,
expert, employee, user.
Concept descriptions, explanations
Combine both genders by means
of a slash (+) he/she, s/he Only in exceptional cases such as
License Terms, sometimes in
tables (headers or column/row
titles, for example)
Genitive
This section does not apply to Vietnamese, instead use ―of‖ (của).
Modifiers
Grammatical modifier:
Like in English, in Vietnamese there are adverbs and adjectives prototypically function as modifiers, but in
Vietnamese a word can be either adverb or adjective, e.g. Công việc dễ dàng (ease work), dễ dàng sử dụng (Use
easily), sử dụng dễ dàng (ease use).
(+) Adjective goes after noun
(+) Adverb go before verb
Example:
Easy planning work (+) Dễ dàng lập kế hoạch công việc
Planning ease work (+) Lập kế hoạch công việc dễ (dàng)
Because in Vietnamese adjective go after noun. In some cases, like in other languages (French, Russian) the
meaning changes depending to position of adjective (before or after noun). Example:
(+) Ngƣời ngh o - Poor man – Homme pauvre (French)
(+) Ngƣời đáng thƣơng - Pauvre homme (French)
(+) Điểm yếu – weakness
(+) Yếu điểm – The essential point
Premodifiers and Postmodifiers
Like in English, adverbs and adjectives prototypically function as modifiers
This will be explained in the proper case (in the case that‘s right for it)
(+) Điều này sẽ đƣợc giải thích trong trƣờng hợp thích hợp
This will be explained in the case proper (in the case itself)
(+) Điều này sẽ đƣợc giải thích trong trƣờng hợp riêng biệt
45
Dangling modifiers:
Not exists in Vietnamese. In Vietnamese we use while, during (trong lúc, trong khi, vừa vừa)
Nouns
General considerations
1. (+) Normally noun goes before adjective:
Văn bản tiếng Việt - Vietnamese text
2. A word can be adjective or adverb.
(+) ―dễ‖ may be adjective or adverd, so the order of words is very important.
Dịch văn bản này dễ– Translate this text easily; ―dễ‖ is adverb
Dich văn bản dễ này -- Translate this ease text; ―dễ‖ is adjective
3. Noun as genitive: (Vietnam)
(+) Hệ thống truyền hình (của) Việt Nam – Vietnam television system
4. Proper geographic names, human name: (+) In Vietnamese all the first letters are capitalized.
(+) Hà Nội - Hanoi
(+) Việt Nam - Vietnam
(+) TP Hồ Chí Minh – Hochiminh City
(+) Hoa K -- USA
5. Common noun: First letter of noun is not capitalized, except Initial letter in the new sentence (new line or
after punctuation mark.
(+) Ngôn ngữ tiếng Việt – Vietnamese language
(+) But we accept capitalize first letter like in English:
Mô tả Nhà cung cấp Dữ liệu Tin cậy -- Trusted Data Provider Description
6. Noun as complement-object for transitive verb:
Sao ch p đoạn văn bản sau – Copy the following paragraph
Inflection
1. Tense
(+) In Vietnamese the tense is used with additional word, such as:
- Present (đang – being):
Hệ thống đang làm việc độc lập - The system is working independently
Hệ thống làm việc độc lập - The system works independently
(+) But in the case if not necessary to emphasize, it will be omitted
- Future (sẽ – will)
2. Grammatical Mood
In Vietnamese complements are not modified by mood, instead a word is added, like in English:
46
- của – of
( ) But in some case we need add ―của‖ (of) for clarity.
Maximum Cache Age – Tuổi Tối đa của Bộ đệm n
3. Grammatical voice
- Active voice: (+) The order of words in the sentence determines the meaning:
Tôi quản lý hệ thống - I manage the system
Hệ thống quản lý tôi - The system manages me.
4. Aspect: n/a
In Vietnamese the additional word is added, e.g. ―vừa‖ (just, venir de in French), ―sẽ‖ (to be ing) and
Tôi vừa dịch bài này - I just translated this article
(+) Mai tôi (sẽ) đi TP HCM – Tomorrow I‘m going to HCM City
5. Person: (Like in English)
Pronoun Pronoun in Vietnamese Person/Plurality Gender
I (+) Tôi First person singular
You (+) Bạn, anh, chị
(+) Các bạn, các anh, các
chị
Second person singular /
plural
He (+) Anh ấy, ông ấy Third person singular,
masculine / gender third
person singular
Masculine
She (+) Cô ấy, bà ấy Third person singular,
feminine
Feminine
It (+) Nó Third person singular,
neuter
Neuter
We (+) Chúng tôi, chúng ta First person plural
They (+) Họ, chúng nó Third person plural/gender-
neutral third person
(+) In Vietnamese pay attention when use ―nó‖, ―chúng nó‖ and ―họ‖:
Bố m tooti sống quê. Chủ nhật này tôi vê thăm họ (Not ―chúng nó‖) -- My parents are living in the country. This
Monday I am going to see them.
Tôi gh t chúng nó (not ―họ‖) – I hate them.
Bố tôi già rồi, tôi rất yêu ông ấy – My father is old, I love him
Plural Formation
In Vietnamese we add ―các‖ or ―chúng‖ to specify plural in Personal Pronouns:
47
Example:
Các bạn You Neuter
Các anh You Plural, masculine
Các chi You Plural, feminine
Chúng tôi We Plural, neuter
Chúng ta We Plural, neuter This includes second person too (you), that means (we + you)
Adding article ―các‖ and ―những‖ before noun:
―Các‖ – (+) Plural indefinite article
―Những‖ – (+) Plural definite article
Example:
Trong tính năng, n n tính năng sau là quan trọng nhất
Among features the following features are most important
Prepositions
Pay attention to the correct use of the preposition in translations. Influenced by the English language, many
translators omit them or change the word order.
Prepositional phrases in English need to be translated according to their context; anglicisms should be avoided.
The table below contains frequently used verbs and the prepositions that follow them.
US Expression Vietnamese Expression Comment
migrate to di trú đến
―to‖ can be translated as tới/đến,
not recommended to use ―sang‖
―sang‖: - across, normally move
from this side to other side, at the
same level
Migrate from di trú từ
import to Chuyển nhập đến
import from Chuyển nhập từ
export to Xuất chuyển đến
export from Xuất chuyển từ
update to cập nhật lên
upgrade to nâng cấp lên
change to đổi sang
48
US Expression Vietnamese Expression Comment
click on bấm vào
connect to kết nối với
welcome to ... chào mừng ...
The examples below contain frequently occurring noun phrases that are preceded by a preposition. Please use
this table as a reference.
When there is a progress or improvement ―to‖ will be translated as ―lên‖
(+) Cập nhật lên – update to
(+) Nâng cấp lên – upgrade to
There is a correspondence between English prepositions and Vietnamese ones. But in some case the usage of
prepositions may be different in comparison their normal meanings. That shows the different conceptions
between peoples. For example:
in English "A bird flies in the sky", its translation in Vietnamese is
(+) "Con chim bay trên trời" not
(-) "Con chim bay trong trời"
even the normal translation of "in" is "trong" and of "on" is "trên"
US Expression Vietnamese Expression Comment
in the toolbar (+) trên thanh công cụ
on the tab (+) trên tab
on the menu (+) trên menu
on the net (+) trên mạng
on the Internet (+) trên Internet
on the Web (+) trên Web
on a web site (+) trên web site
on a web page (+) trên trang web
Pronouns
1. Personal pronouns: in Vietnamese we add ―các‖ and ―chúng‖ to create plural personal pronouns (see
―Plural Formation‖ part.
2. (+) In case ―chúng ta‖ (we audience), ―chúng tôi‖ (we)
49
3. Intensive pronouns: : in Vietnamese we add ―tự‖ before or after personal pronoun, e.g.
ô làm việc này, n làm việc này - I did it myself, He did it himself
4. Objective pronouns, prepositional pronouns, disjunctive pronouns: the same as personal pronouns
5. Reciprocal pronoun: ―l n nhau‖ – each other
Giúp đ l n nhau - Help each other
6. Dummy pronoun, e.g.:
In Vietnamese either specify the subject ―Trời‖ (Sky) or without the subject
It is raining – Trời đang mƣa or đang mƣa
It is difficult to do Khó làm .
Punctuation
This section explains how to use Vietnamese-specific punctuation in place of the US-English punctuation found in
the source interface and content.
Please follow the following basic rules for the use of punctuation marks in Vietnamese. If your language uses a
character set that is based on the Latin alphabet, make sure to include a space after commas and periods.
Vietnamese script is based on Latin alphabet, every rule for commas and other common punctuation marks is the
same as in Latin script.
Comma
US English uses a period as the decimal separator, while many other languages use a comma. In Vietnamese a
comma is used. Do not use a space for this purpose as a space separates the numeral from the abbreviation.
In paper sizes (the last example in the table below) the decimal separator and the abbreviation "in" for inches are
kept, since the sizes are US norms and should be represented accordingly.
Comma is used as
decimal seperator
50
English example Vietnamese example
5.25 cm (+) 5,25 cm
5 x 7.2 inches (+) 5 x 7,2 inches
Letter Landscape 11 x 8.5 in (+) Letter Landscape 11 x 8,5 in
For thousands, English uses a comma while many other languages use a period (at Microsoft we normally do not
use a space for this purpose, but we use a period instead to avoid wrapping problems). In Vietnamese a period is
used.
English example Vietnamese example
1,526 (+) 1.526
$ 1,526.75 (+) $ 1.526,75
Colon
Vietnamese script is based on Latin alphabet; every rule for commas and other common punctuation marks is the
same as in Latin script.
1. (+) No space before colon, but one space after colon must be added.
Example 1:
Các đặc tả sau: (The following features: )
2. Use colon to introduce a list/ a series:
Example 2: (+) First letter of proper noun is capitalized
(+) Tôi có ba con trai: Viet, Nam và Thanh (I have three sons: Viet, Nam and Thanh)
Viet is proper noun, so ―V‖ is capitalized.
Example 3: (+) The list after the colon is like a part of the sentence, so first letter is not capitalized.
(+) M i ngƣời đàn ông và đàn bà có ba mục tiêu: sống, yêu và học tập. (Every man and woman has
three aims: to live, to love, and to learn.)
―sống‖ with lower case ―s‖
(+) Để cài đặt chƣơng trình bạn c n
có đĩa cài đặt,
đọc hƣớng d n cài đặt,
The colon is not used.
Example 4: (+) To introduce a list (Each items is listed as a new line and of course first letters are
capitalized.
(+) Để phòng chống bệnh cúm chúng ta c n:
Rửa tay thƣờng xuyên với xà phòng và nƣớc.
51
Tránh tiếp xúc với ngƣời bệnh
Example 5: (+) A quotation
Lời nói của Hamlet: ―Tồn tại hay không tồn tại‖. (Hamlet‘s speech: ―To be or not to be.‖)
Michaerl Jackson đã tuyên bố: ―Tôi là vua nhạc Pop‖.
Michael Jackson proclaimed: ―I am the King of Pop.‖
Example 7: (-) Remember, a colon can never be followed by a hyphen or a dash
Michaerl Jackson đã tuyên bố:- ―Tôi là vua nhạc Pop‖. (wrong style)
Dashes and Hyphens
Three different dash characters are used in English:
Hyphen
The hyphen is used to divide words between syllables, to link parts of a compound word, and to connect the parts
of an inverted or imperative verb form.
Example:
In general in Vietnamese hyphen is rarely used for breaking compound words:
Compound word ―Dễ-sử dụng‖ consists of two words, ―sử dụng‖ itself is one compound word, so no hyphen to
separate two its syllables
Ease-to-use (+) Dễ-sử dụng
Left-to-right (+) Từ-trái-sang-phải
Hyphen is used separate two parts of compound words; second part is for explaining the first part
En Dash
Like in English, a dash smaller than an em dash but usually longer than a regular hyphen, the en dash is often
used in place of the word "to", such as 10-5 p.m.
Em Dash
Like in English, an em dash (—), so known as an ‗m dash‘ or ‗m rule‘, the em dash gets its name because it is
roughly the width of the letter ‗m‘ and is used in a similar way to a colon. It can show an abrupt change or pause
in thought, but where a full stop is too strong or a comma is too weak. It can be used to indicate that a sentence is
unfinished because the speaker has been interrupted.
Example 1: An em dash marks an interruption in a sentence, a change in direction. Usually two em dashes are
used to mark the beginning and end of the interruption, though sometimes the sentence may end with the
interrupting phrase.
(+) Hai nhà lãnh đạo—một từ Công ty A và ngƣời kia từ Công ty B—nghĩ h trợ cho công việc của hội đồng.
52
(The two leaders—one from Company A and one from Company B—sought to build support for the work of the
commission.)
Example 2:
(+) Trà—với vị hoa sen hoặc hoa nhài—thơm và ngon.
The tea—with lotus or jasmine spices—was delicious and fragrant
Ellipses (Suspension Points)
In Vietnamese ― ‖ and ―v.v.‖ are used as ellipses (et cetera)
Example:
In Vietnamese there are combinations extended vowels with 5 tones, for example: á, ả, ã, ạ, à
(+) Trong tiếng Việt tổ hợp của các nguyên âm với 5 thanh, thí dụ: á, ả, ã, ạ, à
Period
Vietnamese script is based on Latin alphabet; every rule for commas and other common punctuation marks is the
same as in Latin script.
1. Place a period after a declarative sentence. A declarative sentence is one that makes a statement or a
point.
Example 1: (+) Cài đặt xong. (The installation is finished.)
2. Put a period at the end of an abridged sentence. An abridged sentence is one that is not a complete
sentence, such as "After your homework."
Example 2: (+) Thực hiện hợp đồng. (Contract implementation)
3. Add a period after an imperative sentence. An imperative sentence is giving a command:
Example 3: (+) Hãy viết kiểm tra. (Write a check.)
4. Use a period to express a decimal point. Periods can be used to express a thousand separator in figures
Example 4:
(+) 2.400VND (2,400VND)
5. Insert periods after abbreviations such as academic degrees, geographic names, courtesy titles, compass
points, single word headings and Latin word and phases that are abbreviated.
6. Periods can be used to display lists, enumerate items, outlines, numerals and letters.
7. At the end of a sentence, you would space once after the period. There is no space when you use it in
abbreviations. There are no spaces when a period is used in thousand separators.
53
Example 5: (+) ƣd (app.); cty (inc.); CPĐT (e-gov.)
(-) One space before period (wrong)
8. (+) In Vietnamese a period is used after closing double quotes (This is also true for exclamation mark ―!‘
and comma ―,‖) for exact words of the subject.
Example 6:
(+) Madonna thích tuyên bố ―Tôi không xấu hổ vì bất cứ điều gì‖
Madonna is fond of declaring "I'm not ashamed of anything."
Example 7:
(+) Tổng thống Nixon đã tuyên bố ―Tôi không phải kẻ lừa đảo‖
President Nixon declared ―I am not a crook.‖
Example 8: But in English this style í correct too.
Thomas Edison declared that genius was "one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration"
Quotation Marks
Quotation marks are used in Vietnamese for quoting sentences or phrases.
As in English Quotation Marks come as a pair of opening and closing marks in either of two styles: single (‗ ‘) or
double (― ‖), but there is a little difference: (+) In Vietnamese closing mark goes before period (.), comma (,).
Example:
―Good morning, Frank,‖ greeted HAL.
(+) ―Chào anh Frank‖, HAL chào.
Parentheses
In English, there is no space between the parentheses and the text inside them and the same rule is applied to
Vietnamese.
The text in the parentheses is for comment, explanation, without it the meaning of the phrase will not changed.
(+) Example 1: (+) No spaces before and after ―LOB‖
Đƣờng lối kinh doanh (LOB)
Singular & Plural
Refer to Plural Formation part for information.
Split Infinitive
This section does not apply to Vietnamese.
54
Subjunctive
This section does not apply to Vietnamese.
Symbols & Non-Breaking Spaces
According to Unicode codes of TCVN 6909:2001 NBSP has hexa code 00A0H
In HTML coding, the non-breaking space ( ) is the entity used to represent a non-breaking space. It is
essentially a standard space, the primary difference being that a browser should not break (or wrap) a line of text
at the point that this  .
Non-breaking spaces ( ) should only be used whenever they are present also in the US text. Otherwise it is
recommended to use a blank space as non-breaking spaces can create functionality problems.
This Style Guide does not cover a comprise overview of existing symbols. For information on Currency symbols
used in Vietnamese, please refer to the section numbers and the sub-section currency.
Syntax
Vietnamese is an isolating language in which the relationship between parts of a sentence is indicated by the
word order and auxiliaries. As a result, word order is critical to convey the meaning of a sentence.
A word follows the noun it modifies (sách mới, anh tôi, vấn đề đ u tiên, văn học Việt Nam hiện đại), unlike English
which has the reverse word order (new book, my brother, first issue, modern Vietnamese literature). The basic
word order of noun phrases should be stressed:
(+)
Number/PlurMark Classifier Noun Adjective Pronoun
a. In the basic structure SVP (Subject + Verb + (Subject) Predicative) the English copular verb to be is used to
link
1) a noun to a noun, e.g., My name is John.
2) a pronoun to a noun, e.g., He is my friend.
3) a noun or pronoun to an adjective, e.g., The movie is good.
In Vietnamese the sentences of type 3) do not use the copular verb là, that is 1) Tên tôi là John. 2) Anh
ấy là bạn tôi. and 3) Bộ phim ấy ______ hay.
b. In English, interrogative words (who, what, which, how, where, when, why) are placed at the beginning of a
question.
In Vietnamese, some interrogatives are placed at the beginning of questions (vì sao, tại sao, sao – why, ai –
who, cái nào - which, cái gì -- what).
55
Some others are put at the end of questions (đâu, đâu – where, nhƣ thế nào -- how).
Other may be put at beginning or at the end of questions (khị nào)
For instance,
1) Vì sao chị không đồng ý với chúng tôi? (Why do you disagree with us?);
2) Anh làm việc đâu? (Where are you working?)
3) The position of the interrogative words ai, gì, nào depends on their grammatical function in a sentence.
4) Interrogative words with the meaning of time (bao giờ, khi nào, ngày nào, hôm nào, lúc nào, thứ mấy,
ngày bao nhiêu) refer to the past tense when placed at the end of questions and indicate the present or
future when put at the beginning.
For instance,
1) Bao giờ anh ấy đến? (When will he arrive?) vs. Anh ấy đến bao giờ? (When did he arrive?)
c. In interrogative sentences, Vietnamese native speakers distinguish the purpose and the reason by using
different interrogative words, whereas the context identifies the purpose or the reason in English, for instance:
1) Anh đi đến đấy làm gì? (Why do you go there? Literally: For what purpose do you go there?) vs. Vì sao
anh không muốn đi đến đấy? (Why don't you want to go there?)
d. Some words have a position different from the position of English words with similar meanings and functions.
For example:
1) đ p hơn vs. more beautiful, Quyển sách này hay hơn quyển sách kia nhiều. vs. This book is much better
than that one. Tháng sau tôi đi Việt Nam. vs. I am going to Vietnam next month. Some words have
different meanings when placed in different positions, for instance: đƣợc nghỉ ba ngày (to be allowed to
take three days off) and nghỉ đƣợc ba ngày (to be able to take three days off).
e. The adverbs of degree rất and lắm are used without the adverb nhiều "much" when the verb conveys the
meaning of feeling. The adverb much is necessary in English: Tôi rất thích quyển sách này. or: Tôi thích
quyển sách này lắm. versus I like the book very much.
Verbs
1. In Vietnamese verbs are the words that have general vocabulary meaning and specify the operation or given status of things. There are: - Single verb: chạy, nhảy, đi, về, ăn (run, jump, walk, return, eat, ...) - Complex verb: đi lại, bác b , gom góp, lựa chọn, kh i động (to go back, deny, collect, select, start ...) (+) Recommend to specify clearly:
Loại b – Remove Xóa b – Delete Xóa – Clear Bác b – Reject
( ) Do not use speaking language, such as use ―xóa‖ for different meaning ―xóa b ‖, ―loại b ‖
56
2. Tense of verbs: In Vietnamese an adverb of time is added before verb to specify past, continous present
and future respectively ―đã‖, ―đang‖ and ―sẽ‖. We do not distinguish detailed of past and future, such as
simple past, complete past . like in English or in French.
Example 1:
Tôi đang đọc (I am reading)
(+) Except for emphasizing purpose, sometime we do not use adverb ―đang‖, ―đã‖, and ―sẽ‖ for
expressing tense of verbs.
Example 2:
(+) Tôi đã cài đặt chƣơng trình diệt virus (I installed the antivirus program)
Example 3:
(+) Tôi sẽ làm việc vào chủ nhật này (I will work on this Sunday)
3. The verbs can be merged with adverbs that complement meaning of continuity, such as ―còn‖, ―v n‖,
―cứ‖
Example 4: (+) Tôi v n làm (I‘m still working)
4. The verbs can be merged with adverbs that complement negative meaning, such as ―không‖, ―chƣa‖,
―chẳng‖
Example 5:
(+) Tôi không biết (I don‘t know)
Use of adverbs that complement negative meaning in Vietnamese is depending on the negative level.
(+) Tôi không biết (In general, I don‘t know)
(+) Tôi chƣa biết (I don‘t know, but I would like to know or I will know later)
(+) Tôi chẳng biết (I don‘t know, but I don‘t care)
All are translates as ―I don‘t know‖
5. The verbs can be merged with adverbs that complement demand meaning, such as ―hãy‖, ―đừng‖, ―chớ‖.
Example 6:
(+) Hãy đọc ReadMe sau đây (Read the following ReadMe)
(+) Vui lòng đọc ReadMe sau đây (Please, read the following ReadMe)
English Vietnamese
Verb in infinitive and imperative form:
Read carefully the following paragraph
(+) Add adverb ―Hãy‖:
Hãy đọc kỹ đoạn văn bản sau
Verb in impersonal form for description or
imperative form but in subordinate clause:
To resolve this issue, ask your system
administrator to verify that Excel Services
are enabled on this site and are functioning
(+) Not neccessay to add the adverb ―Hãy‖:
Để giải quyết vấn đề này, ( ) h i ngƣời quản trị hệ
thống của bạn để kiểm chứng là các Dịch vụ Excel đƣợc
57
English Vietnamese
properly. ph p trên site này và hoạt động đúng.
Polite form:
Please read
(+) Add ―Vui lòng‖ before verb:
Vui lòng đọc
6. Continuous operations are usually expressed in English with a gerund, which should be translated into
Vietnamese, e.g.
1) Reading this book is compulsory – Đọc cuốn sách này là bắt buộc. In Vietnamese we can use a verb as
subject; ―Đọc‖ (Read) in Vietnamese is a verb.
(-) Not neccessay to add the article ―việc‖ before verb ―đọc‖ to gerund ―reading‖.
2) I like programming – Tôi thích lập trình. Gerund performs function of object; ―lập trình‖ can be considered
as ―việc lập trình‖ (programming). I enjoy doing it myself, or the idea of programming is otherwise
appealing.
3) I‘m tired of arguing – Tôi mệt vì tranh cãi. Gerund is preceded by preposition; ―tranh cãi‖ can be
considered ―việc tranh cãi‖ (arguing)
7. Like in English or in French , in Vietnamese there are transitive and intransitive verbs and the specific
prepositions are used with each verbs:
Chuyển đổi 013AH từ hệ hexa sang hệ thập phân (Convert 013A from hexa to decimal system)
The verb ―chuyển đổi‖ (convert) is transitive one, and direct complement is ―013AH từ hệ hexa sang hệ
thập phân‖ (013A from hexa to decimal system). Two prepositions are ―từ‖, ―sang‖ (from, to).
Word Order
As it is mentioned above, word order in Vietnamese is critical. The meaning of a sentence may be totally different
when the words order is changed, due to in Vietnamese there isn‘t mood and tense, aspect and voice are defined
by adding a word.
(+) Remenber that word order in Vietnamese is very important!
58
Example:
1) Tôi ăn cơm - I eat rice
2) Cơm ăn tôi – Rice eats me
3) Tôi sẽ làm việc đó – I will do it
4) Tôi muốn bạn làm điều đó - I want you do it
5) Tôi muốn bạn nên làm điều đó - I want you should do it; the order is ―bạn nên‖, ―nên‖ (should)
6) Tôi muốn nên bạn làm điều đó – I wanted to, so you do it; the order is ―nên bạn‖, ―nên‖ (so)
Style and Tone Considerations This section focuses on higher-level considerations for audience, style, tone, and voice.
Audience
Vietnamese has some variations in terms writing depending on the regions: north, middle, and south, and
depending on fields, such as industry or university, or smaller environment.
Do not use the terms specific for small audience and not considered as popular.
(+) Do not use the terms that originate and format compound words from Chinese language where in Vietnamese
the equivalent term exists.
Example:
Use ―thấy đƣợc‖ instead of ―hữu hình‖, ―có ích‖ instead of ―hữu ích‖
Style
1) Consistency, because in technical writing, using different styles to make two similar utterances makes the
reader ask whether the use of different styles was intended to carry additional meaning:
Example:
Please do Vui lòng
(+) ―Please‖ is translate as ―Vui lòng...‖. Not recommended to translate as ―Làm ơn...‖
Delete - Xóa b
Remove – Loại b
Cancel – Hủy b
Format the disk - Hãy định dạng
The imperative ‗Format‖ is translated as ―Hãy‖ ―định dạng‖
2) Use active voice where applicable for ease understanding
The maximum time in minutes a Web Drawing should be cached by the service
Can be translated as:
(+) Thời gian tối đa theo phút mà hình Vẽ Web c n đƣợc dịch vụ lƣu trữ vào đệm n
59
Or:
(-) Thời gian tối đa theo phút mà hình Vẽ Web c n đƣợc lƣu trữ vào đệm n b i dịch vụ
3) Follow the Microsoft culture in each categories of localization (help text, commands menu, )
Tone
The tone should be formal. Three main dialects are slightly different in tone, pronunciation, and terminology. Northern (Hanoi) pronunciation is considered standard.
English North Vietnamese South Vietnamese Recommended
Send mail (+) Gửi thƣ G i thơ North VI
Select (+) Chọn Lựa North VI
Voice
In Vietnamese there are many words for expressing pronouns depending on your ages and your relations.
(+) It is recommended that in translation from English source text, you do not use many such words but only use
"bạn" for "you" and "chúng tôi" for "we, us", "họ" for "they, them."
(-) Do not use "anh ấy" or "cô ấy" but use "ngƣời đó" for "he/she, him/her."
(+) The word ―you‖ must be translated as ―bạn‖ in all cases. This word can be used to address to the general audience both formal and casual regardless of age, gender...
In Vietnamese, in general, a word could be a noun or verb or adjective or adverb is depending on its role in
sentences. It depends on the context for using the right word type.
Example:
English Translation
You are now connected to the Internet. Bạn hiện đang đƣợc kết nối vào Internet
Your Internet connection is in trouble Kết nối Internet của bạn đang bị trục trặc
(+) To express passive voice in Vietnamese we use the word ―đƣợc‖ or ―bị‖ and add it before the verb, in the
examples below:
Example:
1) This file is moved to other directory – Tệp này đƣợc chuyển sang thƣ mục khác
The word ―đƣợc‖ is added before the verb ―chuyển‖ (move) for expressing positive action, or it is difficult
to consider this action is positive or negative.
2) This file is deleted from the directory – Tệp này bị xóa b kh i thƣ mục
The word ―bị‖ is added before the verb ―xóa‖ (delete) for expressing negative action.
60
(+) Normally, in Vietnamese we use active voice (if applicable), in case we can‘t specify the subject or the subject
isn‘t defined specifically we use verb infinitive.
Example:
1) Chuyển tiếp thƣ cho ông A – Forward the e-mail to Mr. A
61
Localization Guidelines
This section contains guidelines for localization into Vietnamese.
General Considerations
Abbreviations
Common Abbreviations
You might need to abbreviate some words in the UI (mainly buttons or options names) due to lack of space. This
can be done in the following ways:
- Use common abbreviated words in correct context for clear meaning.
List of common abbreviations:
Vietnamese Expression English Expression Acceptable Abbreviation
vân vân etc. (+) v.v.
Công nghệ thông tin IT (+) CNTT
Công nghiệp ph n mềm Software Industry (+) CNgPM
Accessibility
Microsoft provides people with disabilities (single-handed or with hearing or motion disabilities) with more
accessible products and services. These may not be available in Vietnam. Please check with your Microsoft
contact and remove these references from Vietnamese text if necessary.
Acronyms
Acronyms are words made up of the initial letters of major parts of a compound term. Some well-known examples
are WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), OLE (Object Linking and Embedding), or RAM (Random
Access Memory).
Caution: Do not include a generic term after an acronym or abbreviation if one of the letters in the acronym
stands for that term. Even though this might occur in the US-English version, it should be ―corrected‖ in the
localized version. The following examples show the redundancy in red for English terms. However, in Vietnamese
all acronym or abbreviation is kept unchange from English source, so even there is redundancy in red for English
terms, in Vietnamse it is not redundant and can be translated:
(-) RPC call - lời gọi RPC
(-) HTML language- ngôn ngữ HTML
(-) TCP/IP-Protocol - giao thức TCP/IP
(-) PIN Number- Số PIN
62
Localized Acronyms
In online help or documentation, spell out the words that comprise an acronym or abbreviation the first time that
acronym is used in the text. You should include the language-specific translation, the US term, and the acronym
as in the following example:
(+) Đ ƣ n r n (Data Access Objects, DAO)
(+) Đ ƣ n ActiveX (ActiveX Data Objects, ADO)
You should also consider that different users will have different levels of knowledge about a product. For example,
an Italian Exchange user will understand ―DL,‖ but the average Italian Windows user might not understand ―DL‖
and would need to see ―lista di distribuzione‖ (distribution list) instead. Try to be consistent within a product with
your use of acronyms and initializations.
Note: Although the English acronym cannot generally be derived from the language-specific translation, creating
a new acronym derived from the language-specific translated term is not an option. For example, do not replace
an English acronym with a language-specific acronym; instead, leave the English acronym or abbreviation intact,
as in the following examples ―where DLL‖ and ―DPI‖ are correctly rendered as ―DLL‖ and ―DPI‖:
Unlocalized Acronyms
Many abbreviations and acronyms are standardized and remain untranslated. They are only followed by their full
spelling in English if the acronym needs to be explained to the speakers of a different language. In other cases,
where the acronym is rather common, adding the fully spelled-out form will only confuse users. In these cases,
the acronym can be used on its own.
The following list contains examples of acronyms and abbreviations that are considered commonly understood;
these acronyms and abbreviations should not be localized or spelled out in full in English:
ANSI (American National Standards Institute)
ISO (International Standards Organization)
ISDN
DOS DSL CD DVD
If you are unsure what an acronym or abbreviation stands for or refers to, please contact the Moderator
responsible for this Style Guide.
63
Applications, Products, and Features
Application/product names are often trademarked or may be trademarked in the future and are therefore rarely
translated. Occasionally, feature names are trademarked, too (e.g. IntelliSense™). Before translating any
application, product, or feature name, please verify that it is in fact translatable and not protected in any way.
Frequent Errors
Like English, Vietnamese terminologies depend on regions North, Middle and South, habitation and culture of
people of each region.
Example 1: Terminology and Orthographical Ambiguity
(+) Edit (Sửa, soạn thảo), Modify (Chỉnh sửa, Sửa đổi), Compose (Soạn)
(-) but Vietnamese always tend to abbreviate, using ―sửa‖ for ―edit and ―modify‖
(+) Browse (Duyệt) and may be Review (Duyệt lại) or Approve (Phê duyệt)
(-) but Vietnamese always tend to abbreviate, using ―duyệt‖ for ―browse‖, ―review‖, and ―approve‖.
(+) Click (bấm chuột)
(-) Clich (nháy chuột) is used popularly in university area)
Autocorrect Program or Program corrects errors it-self (Chƣơng trình Tự sửa l i)
ToolBar (Thanh Công cụ --- For translating the word like this, there is not the consistency: ThanhCôngcụ,
Thanh Công cụ, Thanh Công cụ, Thanh Công cụ)
( ) ToolBar (Thanh công cụ)
To choose, to select, to pick out (Chọn, Lựa, Lựa chọn, Chọn lựa)
( ) Select (Chọn)
Word list: (Danh sách từ:) --- Work (Từ) and from (từ), so ―Danh sách từ:‖ if no context we can
understand as ―List from:‖
Add double "e for Hebrew alphabet numbering (Thêm cặp dấu ngoặc k p cho vi c đánh số dùng
bảng chữ cái Tiếng Do Thái) --- this can be trahnslated as ―Thêm cặp dấu ngoặc k p đ đánh số bảng
chữ cái tiếng Do Thái‖ – Here, the preposition ―for‖ (cho) better is translated as ―để‖. In Vietnamese the
word after ―để‖ is a verb.
In some community G rối (Troubleshoot, Troubleshooting) and G l i (Debugger) are used
interchangeably.
.
(+) Example 2: In English ―reviewer‖ is subject that performs the review, may be a person or program, but in
Vietnamese we must specify clarely who ―ngƣời‖ (person) or ―chƣơng trình‖ (program).
Chƣơng trình dịch (Translator)
Reviewer (Ngƣời duyệt lại)
Administrator (Ngƣời quản trị)
Supplyer (Nhà cung cấp)
(+) Example 3: In Vietnamese one word may be a verb or a noun, an adjective or an adverb. Sometime we must
add an adverb.
Update (verb: cập nhật, noun: bản cập nhật)
64
Change (Verb: Thay đổi, noun: sự thay đổi)
Click (Verb: bấm chuột, noun: bấm --- we don‘t add an adverb like ―cú‖)
Selection (việc chọn, vùng chọn)
Glossaries
You can find the translations of terms and UI elements of Microsoft products at Microsoft Language Portal
(http://www.microsoft.com/Language/en-US/Default.aspx).
Fictitious Information
Fictitious content is legally sensitive material and as such cannot be handled as a pure terminology or localization
issue. Below is some basic information and contact points when dealing with fictitious content:
Vendors and Localizers are not allowed to create their own fictitious names. You must either use the source
names or use the list of legally approved names.
Please contact your product team representative for further information on how to deal with fictitious companies,
names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, etc. in your product. For technical products, you may also
check with the product team representative whether localized fictitious content is required or not (e.g. Visual
Studio).
Recurring Patterns
For recurring patterns, please refer to the Links provided in the following section Standardized Translations.
Standardized Translations
There are a number of standardized translations mentioned in all sections of this Style Guide. In order to find
them more easily, the most relevant topics and sections are compiled here for you reference.
Titles of the Type "Sending a File"
Unlocalized Items
Trademarked names and the name Microsoft Corporation shouldn‘t be localized. A list of Microsoft trademarks is
available for your reference at the following location: http://www.microsoft.com/trademarks/t-mark/names.htm.
Refer to the Windows section at the bottom of this document.
65
Using the Word Microsoft
In English, it is prohibited to use MS as an abbreviation for Microsoft.
In Vietnamese, MS stands for Microsoft for many year and used for abbreviation of Microsoft where you can use
abbreviation.
Example:
In Microsoft Excel you can ... – (+) Trong MS Excel bạn có thể ...
Software Considerations This section refers to all menus, menu items, commands, buttons, check boxes, etc., which should be consistently
translated in the localized product.
Refer to http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/aa511258.aspx for a detailed explanation of the Windows user interface
guidelines (English).
User Interface
For UI localization, you should always translate the term as short as possible because there‘s always limited
space for the target translation. However the translation must be always clear and correct.
Avoid to use ―Các‖ or ―Những‖ for plural term, esepcially the term is used as a title or button of a dialog box.
For example:
Word Options Tùy chọn Word, ―Các tùy chọn của Word‖ is not recommended because it may cause issues
about length limitation.
66
Messages
Status Messages
What is a Status Bar Message?
A status bar message is an informational message about the active document or a selected command as well as
about any active or selected interface item. Messages are shown in the status bar at the bottom of the window
when the user has chosen a menu, a command or any other item, or has started a function. The status bar
messages refer to actions being performed or already complete (for example in Outlook below).
Vietnamese Style in Status bar Messages
In English, the status bar messages have different forms dependent on the information they must convey. In
Vietnamese, menu and commands status bar messages should follow the format below.
Name Vietnamese Name Category English Status Bar
message
Vietnamese Status Bar
message
Edit (+) Soạn
menu Contains editing commands (+) Chứa các lệnh soạn
thảo
Copy to
Folder...
(+) Sao vào Cặp... menu
Copies the selected items to
a new location
(+) Sao các khoản mục
đã chọn vào vị trí mới
New (+) Mới command Creates a new document (+) Tạo lệnh mới
Make object visible?
(+) Làm cho đối tƣợng
nhìn thấy đƣợc
Word is converting the
document. Press Esc to
stop.
(+) Word đang chuyển đổi
tài liệu. Nhấn Esc để
dừng.
Datasheet View (+) Dạng xem Trang tính
Done (+) Đã hoàn thành
67
The importance of standardization
In the US product you can often find messages that are phrased differently even though they have the same
meaning. Try to avoid this in the localized Vietnamese version. Use one standard translation as in the examples
below:
English term Correct Vietnamese translation
Press F1 to get Help (+) n F1 để nhận Trợ giúp
If you want Help press F1
To get Help press F1
Not enough memory
(+) Không đủ bộ nhớ Insufficient memory
There is not enough memory
Save changes to %1? (+) Lƣu thay đổi của %1?
Do you want to save changes to %1?
Error Messages
What Is An Error Message?
Here is an example:
Error messages are messages sent by the system or a program, informing the user that there is an error that
must be corrected in order for the program to keep running. For example, the messages can prompt the user to
take an action or inform the user of an error that requires rebooting the computer.
Vietnamese Style in Error Messages
It is important to use consistent terminology and language style in the localized error messages, and not just
translate as they appear in the US product.
The main principles for translation are clarity, comprehensibility, and consistency.
68
Standard Phrases in Error Messages
When translating standard phrases, standardize. Note that sometimes the US uses different forms to express the
same thing.
Error messages written in US-English are occasionally inconsistent. As you localize the software into Vietnamese,
you should ensure that you use a standard phrase for error messages that have the same meaning and purpose
in the US-English version.
Examples:
English Translation Example Comment
Could not
Cannot
File could not be found
File cannot be found (+) Không tìm đƣợc
tệp
Use of impersonal active voice
and do not distinguish past
and present tense
Failed to
Failure of
Failed to connect
Failure to connect
(+) Kết nối h ng
or
(+) Không kết nối
đƣợc
Express closer to
Vietnamese, not word by word
Cannot find
Could not find
Unable to find
Unable to locate
Cannot find driver
software
Could not find driver
software
Unable to find driver
software
Unable to locate driver
software
(+) Không tìm thấy...
In English there are different
expessión, but in Vietnamese
we use one ―Không tìm thấy‖
to specify only the result.
Not enough memory
Insufficient memory
There is not enough memory
There is not enough memory
available
(+) Không đủ bộ
nhớ
In English there are different
expessión, but in Vietnamese
we use one ―Không đủ bộ
nhớ‖ to specify only the result:
―Not enough memory‖
... is not available
... is unavailable
The command is not
available
The command is
unavailable
(+) Chỉ lệnh không
sẵn có
The same meaning ―the
command not exists‖
Error Messages Containing Placeholders
When localizing error messages containing placeholders, try to find out what will replace the placeholder. This is
necessary for the sentence to be grammatically correct when the placeholder is replaced with a word or phrase.
Note that the letters used in placeholders convey a specific meaning, see examples below:
69
%d, %ld, %u, and %lu means <number>
%c means <letter>
%s means <string>
Examples of error messages containing placeholders:
"Checking Web %1!d! of %2!d!" means "Checking Web <number> of <number>".
"INI file "%1!-.200s!" section" means "INI file "<string>" section".
Keys
The keyboard is the primary input device used for text input in Microsoft Windows. For accessibility and efficiency,
most actions can be performed using the keyboard as well. While working with Microsoft software, you use keys,
key combinations and key sequences.
In English, References to key names, like arrow keys, function keys and numeric keys, appear in normal text (not
in small caps).
Access Keys/Hot keys
Sometimes, there are underlined or highlighted letters in menu options, commands or dialog boxes. These letters
refer to access keys (also known as hot keys) that allow you to run commands, perform tasks, etc. more quickly.
Hot Key Special Options Usage: Is It Allowed? Notes
"Slim characters", such as I, l, t, r, f
can be used as hot key
yes
70
Hot Key Special Options Usage: Is It Allowed? Notes
Characters with downstrokes, such
as g, j, y, p and q can be used as
hotkeys
yes
Extended characters can be used as
hotkeys
Not recommended It is not agreed in general on the
unique way to type extended
characters in Vietnamese, so it is
not recommended to use extended
character as hotkey.
An additional letter, appearing
between brackets after item name,
can be used as hotkeys
allowed but not encouraged the best way for choosing letters
as hot keys in Vietnamese is those
without particulary of Vietnamese
word (English letters).
A number, appearing between
brackets after item name, can be
used as hotkey
allowed but not encouraged the best way for choosing letters
as hot keys in Vietnamese is those
without particulary of Vietnamese
word (English letters).
A punctuation sign, appearing
between brackets after item name,
can be used as hotkey
allowed but not encouraged the best way for choosing letters
as hot keys in Vietnamese is those
without particulary of Vietnamese
word (English letters).
Duplicate hotkeys are allowed when
no other character is available
yes It is ok if software allows to move
from the first to the next item.
No hotkey is assigned when no more
characters are available (minor
options only)
yes If no more characters are available
use duplicate or not assign hotkey.
Preferred characters to be used as Hotkeys
Characters Case Sensitive
A B C D E G H I K L M N O P Q R S T U V X Y 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9
False
71
Allowed characters to be used as Hotkeys
Characters Case Sensitive
F J W Z False
Additional notes: n/a
Arrow Keys
The arrow keys move input focus among the controls within a group. Pressing the right arrow key moves input
focus to the next control in tab order, whereas pressing the left arrow moves input focus to the previous control.
Home, End, Up, and Down also have their expected behavior within a group. Users can't navigate out of a control
group using arrow keys.
Numeric Keypad
It is recommended that you avoid distinguishing numeric keypad keys from the other keys, unless it is required by
a given application. In case which keys to be pressed is not obvious, provide necessary explanations.
Shortcut Keys
Shortcut keys are keystrokes or combinations of keystrokes used to perform defined functions in a software
application. Shortcut keys replace menu commands and they are sometimes given next to the command they
represent. In opposition to the access keys, which can be used only when available on the screen, shortcut keys
can be used even when they are not accessible on the screen.
Shortcut keys
72
Standard Shortcut Keys
US
Command
US English
Shortcut Key
Vietnamese
Command
Vietnamese
Shortcut key
General Windows Shortcut keys
Help window F1 Cửa sổ Trợ giúp
Context-sensitive Help Shift+F1 Trợ giúp theo ngữ cảnh
Display pop-up menu Shift+F10 Hiển thị menu bật lên
Cancel Esc Hủy b
Activate\Deactivate
menu bar mode
F10 Kích hoạt/Khử hoạt chế độ thanh
menu
Switch to the next
primary application
Alt+Tab Chuyển giữa các ứng dụng đang
m
Display next window Alt+Esc Hiển thị cửa sổ tiếp theo
Display pop-up menu
for the window
Alt+Spacebar Hiển thị menu bật lên cho cửa sổ Alt+Spacebar
Display pop-up menu
for the active child
window
Alt+- Hiển thị menu bật lên cho cửa sổ
con đang hiện hoạt
Alt+-
Display property sheet
for current selection
Alt+Enter Hiển thị bảng thuộc tính cho ph n
chọn hiện thời
Alt+Enter
Close active
application window
Alt+F4 Đóng cửa sổ ứng dụng hiện hoạt Alt+F4
Switch to next window
within (modeless-
compliant) application
Alt+F6 Chuyển tới cửa sổ tiếp theo trong
ứng dụng
Alt+F6
Capture active window
image to the Clipboard
Alt+Prnt Scrn Chụp ảnh cửa sổ hiện hoạt và
lƣu trong Bảng tạm
Alt+Prnt Scrn
Capture desktop
image to the Clipboard
Prnt Scrn Chụp ảnh màn hình và lƣu trong
Bảng tạm
Prnt Scrn
Access Start button in
taskbar
Ctrl+Esc Truy nhập vào nút Bắt đ u trong
thanh tác vụ
Ctrl+Esc
Display next child
window
Ctrl+F6 Hiển thị cửa sổ con tiếp theo Ctrl+F6
73
US
Command
US English
Shortcut Key
Vietnamese
Command
Vietnamese
Shortcut key
Display next tabbed
pane
Ctrl+Tab Hiển thị ngăn tab tiếp theo Ctrl+Tab
Launch Task Manager
and system
initialization
Ctrl+Shift+Esc Kh i chạy Trình quản lý Tác vụ
và kh i tạo hệ thống
Ctrl+Shift+Esc
File Menu
File New Ctrl+N Tệp Mới Ctrl+N
File Open Ctrl+O Tệp M Ctrl+O
File Close Ctrl+F4 Tệp Đóng Ctrl+F4
File Save Ctrl+S Tệp Lƣu Ctrl+S
File Save as F12 Tệp Lƣu nhƣ F12
File Print Preview Ctrl+F2 Tệp Xem trƣớc khi In Ctrl+F2
File Print Ctrl+P Tệp In Ctrl+P
File Exit Alt+F4 Tệp Thoát ra Alt+F4
Edit Menu
Edit Undo Ctrl+Z Soạn Hoàn tác Ctrl+Z
Edit Repeat Ctrl+Y Soạn Lặp lại Ctrl+Y
Edit Cut Ctrl+X Soạn Cắt Ctrl+X
Edit Copy Ctrl+C Soạn Sao Ctrl+C
Edit Paste Ctrl+V Soạn Dán Ctrl+V
Edit Delete Ctrl+Backspace Soạn Xóa b Ctrl+Backspace
Edit Select All Ctrl+A Soạn Lựa tất cả Ctrl+A
Edit Find Ctrl+F Soạn Tìm Ctrl+F
Edit Replace Ctrl+H Soạn Thay thế Ctrl+H
Edit Go To Ctrl+B Soạn Đi tới Ctrl+B
Help Menu
Help F1 Trợ giúp F1
Font Format
74
US
Command
US English
Shortcut Key
Vietnamese
Command
Vietnamese
Shortcut key
Italic Ctrl+I Nghiêng Ctrl+I
Bold Ctrl+G Đậm Ctrl+G
Underlined\Word
underline
Ctrl+U Gạch dƣới/Gạch dƣới từ Ctrl+U
Large caps Ctrl+Shift+A Chữ hoa to Ctrl+Shift+A
Small caps Ctrl+Shift+K Chữ hoa nh Ctrl+Shift+K
Paragraph Format
Centered Ctrl+E Căn giữa Ctrl+E
Left aligned Ctrl+L Căn trái Ctrl+L
Right aligned Ctrl+R Căn phải Ctrl+R
Justified Ctrl+J Căn đều Ctrl+J
Document Translation Considerations Document localization may require some specific considerations that are different from software localization. This
section covers a few of these areas.
Titles
In English the titles for chapters usually begin with "How to " or with phrases such as "Working with " or
"Using ".In the Vietnamese version of Microsoft documentation, you can use (+) ―Làm thế nào (để) ‖ or (+)
―Làm việc với ...‖, ―Sử dụng ...‖.
Copyright
Copyright protection is granted to any original work of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression from
which it can be perceived, reproduced, or communicated.
Vietnam has taken the first step towards provision for copyright protection. At present this will be of limited help to
foreigners since protection is granted only to works of Vietnamese nationals or works of foreigners which are
published in Vietnam within 30 days of first publication in the author's home country. The law does, however,
provide that, if and when Vietnam joins the Berne or Universal Copyright Conventions, protection will be afforded
to foreigners on the basis of these conventions.
75
Translation of copyright text should be consistent both within the product being localized and across Vietnamese
versions of Microsoft products. Important things to remember:
No changes in copyright text are allowed until English text is different. Different Vietnamese translation
should be treated as a minor style error unless meaning is the same (if meaning was changed, it would
be an accuracy error.)
Logo word position: all logo occurrences should be at the end of Vietnamese trademarks enumeration
regardless of where the <name> logo part is placed in the English text. It is required to make sure logo in
Vietnamese is associated only with the following product/technology name (not with the subsequent
names too.)
English example Vietnamese example
© 2011 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
The example companies, organizations, products, people, and events depicted herein are fictitious. No association with any real company, organization, product, person, or event is intended or should be inferred.
Microsoft, the Office logo, Outlook, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Windows, the Windows logo, and Windows Server are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
(+)
© 2011 Tập đoàn Microsoft. Bảo lƣu mọi quyền.
Các công ty ví dụ, các tổ chức, sản ph m, con ngƣời, và các sự kiện đƣợc mô tả đây là hƣ cấu. Không có liên quan nào với các công ty, tổ chức, sản ph m, cá nhân hoặc sự kiện là có chủ đích hoặc hàm ý.
Microsoft, các logo Office, Outlook, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Windows, logo Windows, và Windows Server hoặc là đăng ký thƣơng hiệu hoặc thƣơng hiệu của Tập đoàn Microsoft tại Hoa K và các nƣớc khác.
PROTECTABLE WORKS
lectures, speeches; theatrical works and other forms of artistic performance;
cinematographic and video works; radio and television works;
press works; architectural works; plastic art works; applied art works;
photographic works; scientific works, text books, teaching materials;
graphic works, drawings, patterns, sketches and maps related to topography, works of architecture or scientific projects;
translated, adapted, re-written, transformed, compiled, annotated, selected and anthological works;
computer software; and other works prescribed by law. We would be happy to advise you on the registrability of your particular copyright works upon request. TIME FOR REGISTRATION In general, it will take 10 days from the filing date for obtaining the copyright registration.
DURATION OF PROTECTION
The duration of copyright endures for a term consisting of the life of the author and fifty years (50) after the
author‘s death.
FILING REQUIREMENTS
76
Documents required at filing
a) A Notarized Power of Attorney signed by the applicant (s) (with full name capacity of the subscriber in the
case of legal entity) (our form is enclosed).
b) Notarized Deed of Assignment from author (s) to the applicant, where the applicant is not the author.
c) 04 original works.
Information
a) Full name, address, nationality of applicant (s) and author (s);
b) Name and category of the work;
c) Date on which the work was completed, date and place of the first-made - public of works;