On the street. You're walking the opposite way on the pavement and she glanced at you as you passed.
How to say “Excuse me, can I ask you something?” in Vietnamese
Em ơi, cho anh hỏi tí
em oy chaw ang hoy ti
Word for word: Younger sister hey, let me (older brother) ask a little
Hover or tap a word to see what it means.
Why it works
Vietnamese has no neutral 'you': the two pronouns in this sentence say how you rank the two of you. `em` (her) plus `anh` (you) places you as the slightly older man speaking to a younger woman, which is the default a foreign man in his thirties gets away with. If she is visibly older than you it becomes `Chị ơi, cho em hỏi tí`: she is `chị`, you are `em`. If you genuinely cannot tell, `Cho mình hỏi tí` claims nothing about age at all and reads as friendly-peer. `ơi` is just the call that makes someone turn round, the same word you use for a waiter.
The mistake to avoid
Say it from where you stand, at a normal volume, and let her keep her line of walking. Never step into her path, never touch her arm to stop her, never turn and walk beside her to finish the sentence. If she keeps moving, you have your answer: `Chúc em một ngày vui` and you're done. Getting the pronoun wrong the other way, calling a woman ten years your senior `em`, sounds like you called her kid: aim old, never young. In Saigon you'll hear `tí` replaced by `chút`; both are understood everywhere.
What she says back, and what to do next
- Dạ, anh hỏi điGreen light
Yes, go ahead
→ She stopped. Ask your real question in the next second, don't restart with another apology.
- Gì vậy anh?Could go either way
What is it?
→ Neutral and a bit guarded. Ask something concrete and useful, not a compliment.
- Em đang vộiThat's a no
I'm in a hurry
→ Thank her and let her go: `Dạ, cảm ơn em`. Do not add one last sentence to her back.