Nhé (Par)

Situations

S1: Saying good-bye to her friend, Lan says:

Thôi, mình về nhé!
(That's all. I'm leaving, okay?)

S2: Nam won the lottery. Bình says:

Chúc mừng anh nhé!
(Congratulations!)

In social situations (thanking, apologizing, wishing), nhé catches attention or adds intimacy.

S3: Before Bình leaves for university, his mom says:

Vào thành phố, con phải cố gắng học nhé!
(In the city, you must study well, right?)

His sister says:

Nhớ viết thư cho em nhé!
(Remember to write to me, okay?)

S4: Tí asks for ice cream and his mom agrees. Tí says happily:

Đấy nhé! Mẹ gật đầu tức là đồng ý rồi đấy nhé!
(There! You nodded, so you agreed, right?)

S5: Nam suggests to Lan:

Tối thứ bảy đi nghe nhạc với anh nhé!
(Let's go to a concert on Saturday evening, okay?)

In these situations, the speaker gives advice (S3), confirms a promise (S4), or makes a suggestion (S5) and hopes for the listener's agreement.

Definition

Nhé, as a sentence-final particle, is used to catch the listener's attention and imply that the listener should agree with the speaker's advice, promise, or suggestion.

  • Nhé can be interchanged with nhe, nha, or nghen in the Southern dialect.
- Thôi, mình về nhé / nha!
- Sướng nhé / nhe!
- Nhớ viết thư cho em nhé / nha!
  • nhé and nhỉ: Questions ending with nhé or nhỉ expect agreement.
  • nhỉ refers to the nature/characteristics of a thing (usually with adjectives or stative verbs).
  • nhé involves a suggestion/requirement to do something (usually with active verbs). Cf. nhỉ (p. 273).
- Tối thứ bảy đi nghe nhạc với anh nhé? (Suggestion)
- Phong cảnh ở đây đẹp quá nhỉ? (Remark on characteristics)