"Buồn ngủ" and "mệt quá": sleepy and tired in Vietnamese

To say you are tired in Vietnamese, say Mệt quá ("met kwah"), which means "So tired." If you mean sleepy rather than worn out, say Buồn ngủ quá ("bwon ngoo kwah"), which means "So sleepy."

Vietnamese separates these two feelings more clearly than English does, so it helps to know both.

Mệt: tired or worn out

Mệt ("met," with a low, heavy tone) means tired in the sense of physically or mentally drained. You use it after work, exercise, travel or a long day of dealing with people.

Common versions:

• Mệt quá means "So tired." This is the everyday phrase.
• Mệt ghê is a softer, Southern-flavored version.
• Mệt mỏi ("met moy") is fuller and a bit more formal, like "weary" or "exhausted," and works in writing too.
• Mệt xỉu means "tired enough to faint," a casual exaggeration.

Mệt can also mean feeling unwell in a mild way. If someone says Hôm nay mình hơi mệt, it might mean "I'm a bit tired today" or "I'm not feeling great today." People often use it as a gentle way to say they are under the weather.

Buồn ngủ: sleepy

Buồn ngủ ("bwon ngoo") means sleepy. Buồn usually means "sad," and ngủ means "sleep," so new learners sometimes think it means "sad sleep." It does not. In this pattern, buồn means feeling an urge for something you cannot help:

• Buồn ngủ means sleepy, feeling the urge to sleep.
• Buồn cười means feeling the urge to laugh, so "funny."
• Buồn nôn means feeling nauseous.

Once you see the pattern, these words stop looking strange.

How do you pronounce them?

• Mệt: "met," dropping low and clipped (nặng tone).
• Buồn: "bwon," falling gently (huyền tone).
• Ngủ: "ngoo," dipping (hỏi tone). The "ng" at the start is the same sound as at the end of "sing." Practice by saying "sing-oo" and dropping the "si."
• Quá: "kwah," rising.

Stronger words for exhausted

When "tired" is not enough:

• Kiệt sức ("kee-et suk") means exhausted, literally "out of strength." It is serious and fits after hard physical work or illness.
• Đuối ("dwoy") means worn out or running out of steam. It is casual and common, especially when you have been pushing hard.
• Hết pin means "out of battery," a playful modern way to say you are drained.

Words that go with being tired

These come up naturally in the same conversations:

• Ngáp ("ngahp") means to yawn.
• Thức khuya ("tuk khwee-ah") means staying up late, the most common reason for being tired.
• Mất ngủ ("mut ngoo") means insomnia or not being able to sleep.
• Ngủ gật ("ngoo gut") means nodding off, like falling asleep in class.
• Đi ngủ thôi ("dee ngoo toy") means "Let's go to bed."

A Duma Meow cat has a line that sums up staying up late: Sài Gòn không ngủ. Tôi cũng vậy. ("Saigon never sleeps. Neither do I.") It is a joke about Ho Chi Minh City's late-night energy, and không ngủ simply means "doesn't sleep."

How do you ask if someone is tired?

• Mệt không? ("met khohng?") means "Tired?" It is casual.
• Bạn có mệt không? means "Are you tired?" with a friendly pronoun.
• Anh/chị có mệt không ạ? is a polite version for someone older, using anh for an older man or chị for an older woman, with the polite particle ạ.
• Buồn ngủ chưa? means "Sleepy yet?" which is a nice thing to ask a child or a friend late at night.

Is it okay to say you're tired?

Yes. Saying mệt quá is normal and not seen as complaining, as long as it is not every five minutes. Among family, it often invites care: someone may tell you to rest, nghỉ ngơi đi ("rest up"), or offer you food or a drink. If someone tells you they are tired, a kind answer is Nghỉ chút đi ("Take a little rest").

When you finally head to bed, you can close the day with chúc ngủ ngon, the way to say good night.

Practice sentences

• Hôm nay làm nhiều, mệt quá. ("Worked a lot today, so tired.")
• Tối qua thức khuya nên giờ buồn ngủ. ("Stayed up late last night, so I'm sleepy now.")
• Đuối rồi, nghỉ chút đi. ("Out of steam, let's take a break.")

Remember the split: mệt for drained, buồn ngủ for sleepy, and you will already sound more precise than a direct translation of "tired."