"Đồ giả": how to call something fake in Vietnamese

"Đồ giả" means "fake stuff" or "a fake thing" in Vietnamese. You can use it for a counterfeit item, a prop or a copy, and in a heated or joking moment, "Đồ giả!" can also be shouted at a person: "You fake!"

Vietnamese has several words for "fake", and each fits a different situation. Here's how to pick the right one.

What does each word mean?

• đồ: thing, stuff, item (as in "đồ ăn", food, or "đồ chơi", toys)
• giả: fake, false, imitation, pretend

Put together, "đồ giả" means "fake item". The opposite is đồ thật, "real item" or "the genuine article".

How do you pronounce it?

• đồ: falling tone (huyền). Say "doh" sliding down. The "đ" is a regular English "d".
• giả: hỏi tone, dipping and rising. In the North, "gi" sounds like "z"; in the South, it sounds closer to "y". So it's roughly "zah?" or "yah?" with a dip-and-lift.

Together: "DOH zah" (Northern) or "DOH yah" (Southern).

"Đồ giả" vs other fake words

• hàng giả: counterfeit goods. "Hàng" means goods or merchandise, so this is the word you'll see in news stories and official warnings about fake products.
• hàng nhái: knockoffs or imitation products, items made to look like a brand without being identical. "Nhái" means to imitate or mimic.
• đồ giả: fake stuff, more casual and general. Works for props, toy versions, costume jewelry and so on.
• giả tạo: fake in the sense of insincere or phony. Used for people and behavior, like a fake smile or a fake friend.
• tin giả: fake news.

So a counterfeit handbag might be "hàng giả" or "hàng nhái", while a two-faced person is "giả tạo".

"Đồ" as an insult starter

When "đồ" comes before a describing word and is aimed at a person, it turns into an insult, a bit like "you ___!" in English:

• Đồ ngốc! "You idiot!" (mild, often teasing)
• Đồ lười! "You lazybones!"
• Đồ giả! "You fake!"

How harsh it sounds depends heavily on tone and relationship. Among friends joking around, it can be playful. Said seriously to a stranger, it's rude. As a learner, be careful using "đồ + adjective" toward people.

"Ê! Đồ giả!" / "Mày mới là đồ giả!"

In Duma Meow, my Vietnamese cartoon about four cats, two lines go together in a skit: "Ê! Đồ giả!" ("Hey! Fake!") and the comeback "Mày mới là đồ giả!" ("YOU'RE the fake!"). It's a cartoon argument, the kind of back-and-forth that works with deadpan timing.

The comeback is a nice grammar lesson:

• Ê: "hey!", a casual way to get attention
• mày: a very casual "you", used between close friends and in arguments; it can be rude in other contexts
• mới là: "is the one who is really", which puts emphasis on the subject

So "Mày mới là đồ giả!" is literally "You're the one who is really the fake!" The "mới là" pattern works in many sentences, like "Em mới là người đúng" ("I'm the one who's right"). You can find the series on the Voiceover with jimwest405 channel.

Useful shopping phrases

If you're shopping and want to check whether something is genuine, these are polite and practical:

• Cái này hàng thật không? "Is this the real thing?"
• Đây là hàng chính hãng không? "Is this an authentic, brand-official product?" ("chính hãng" means "from the official brand")
• Có phải hàng nhái không? "Is it a knockoff?" (more direct; use carefully)

Other words built on "giả"

• giả vờ: to pretend ("Anh ấy giả vờ ngủ", "He pretended to sleep")
• giả sử: suppose, assuming (as in a hypothetical)
• răng giả: false teeth
• tóc giả: wig

These show that "giả" isn't always negative. It just means "not the original".

Is "đồ giả" rude?

Calling an object "đồ giả" is neutral; it's a description. Calling a person "đồ giả" is an insult, playful or serious depending on tone. If you want to say someone seems insincere in a calmer way, "hơi giả tạo" ("a bit fake") is softer than shouting "đồ giả!"

Practice it

Try describing objects around you: "đồ thật" for real ones and "đồ giả" for plastic plants or toy versions. For another short line from the same cast, see what "ủa" means and the cat voice test in what "ham chơi" means.

When shopping, "hàng thật không?" is a much friendlier question than calling anything fake.