Pho Pronunciations

Updated 04-02-14. Per a request from Barb Carter over at the "Tips on Ordering Pho" post, here are audio files to help with your pho ordering in Vietnamese language. The selection is based on a typical pho menu one may find at many Viet restaurants. So drop me a note in the comment if I missed anything and I'll add it.

First a few words about convention. In Vietnamese, the word "tô" means "bowl." When ordering a bowl of pho tai, for example, a Viet would call a "tô phở tái" or just "tô tái." If you're already in a pho restaurant, then saying "phở" is redundant and is really not necessary (but optionally okay.) If you're in a Viet restaurant that also serves pho, then ordering a "tô phở tái' would be more appropriate to make it clear that you want pho and not another dish. So for those who find saying pho a little challenging, "tô" will solve your problem!

Note: The "t" in "tô" pronounces as a hard t like in French (e.g., Tour de France) or in Spanish (e.g., Latino,) and not like a soft t in English (i.e., tow truck.)

For pho bo or beef pho, as noted in "Tips on Ordering Pho," the seemingly endless pho options on the menu are really permutation and combination of the available meat cuts and types that you can mix and match. The most common options are:

• • bo chin (sliced well-done steak),

  • bo tai (sliced rare steak),

  • nam (flank),

  • ve don (crunchy flank),

  • gau (fatty brisket),

  • gan (tendon),

  • sach (tripe) and

  • bo vien (beef meatballs, normally with tendon).

So without further ado, here is the audio pho menu. As always each has the Southern Viet accent followed by Northern Viet accent.

• 1. Tô Đặc Biệt Xe Lửa (pho dac biet xe lua) - special (combo) large size pho

     1. Click to play     

  2. Pronounce: Tô Đặc Biệt (pho dac biet) - special (combo) regular size pho

• • 1. Click to play     

• 3. Pronounce: Tô Tái, Nạm, Gầu, Gân, Sách (pho Tai, Nam, Gau, Gan, Sach) - rare steak, flank, fatty brisket, tendon, tripe pho

• • 1. Click to play     

• 4. Pronounce: Tô Chín, Nạm, Gầu, Gân, Sách (pho Chin, Nam, Gau, Gan, Sach) - well-done steak, flank, fatty brisket, tendon, tripe pho

• • 1. Click to play     

• 5. Pronounce: Tô Tái, Chín, Gầu, Gân, Sách (pho Tai, Chin, Gau, Gan, Sach) - rare steak, well-done steak, fatty brisket, tendon, tripe pho

• • 1. Click to play     

• 6. Pronounce: Tô Tái, Chín, Nạm, Gân, Sách (pho Tai, Chin, Nam, Gan, Sach) - rare steak, well-done steak, flank, tendon, tripe pho

• • 1. Click to play     

• 7. Pronounce: Tô Tái, Nạm, Gân, Sách (pho Tai, Nam, Gan, Sach) - rare steak, flank, tendon, tripe pho

• • 1. Click to play     

• 8. Pronounce: Tô Tái (pho Tai) - rare steak pho

• • 1. Click to play     

• 9. Pronounce: Tô Chín (pho Chin) - well-done steak pho

• • 1. Click to play     

• 10. Pronounce: Tô Tái, Chín (pho Tai, Chin) - rare steak, well-done steak pho

• • 1. Click to play     

• 11. Pronounce: Tô Tái, Nạm, Gân (pho Tai, Nam, Gan) - rare steak, flank, tendon pho

• • 1. Click to play     

• 12. Pronounce: Tô Tái, Nạm, Sách (pho Tai, Nam, Sach) - rare steak, flank, tripe pho

• • 1. Click to play     

• 13. Pronounce: Tô Nạm, Vè Dòn (pho Nam, Ve Don) - flank, crunchy flank pho

• • 1. Click to play     

• 14. Pronounce: Tô Chín, Nạm, Vè Dòn (pho Chin, Nam, Ve Don) - well-done steak, flank, crunchy flank pho

• • 1. Click to play     

• 15. Pronounce: Tô Tái, Gầu (pho Tai, Gau) - rare steak, fatty brisket pho

• • 1. Click to play     

• 16. Pronounce: Tô Tái, Nạm (pho Tai, Nam) - rare steak, flank pho

• • 1. Click to play     

• 17. Pronounce: Tô Tái, Gân (pho Tai, Gan) - rare steak, tendon pho

• • 1. Click to play     

• 18. Pronounce: Tô Tái, Sách (pho Tai, Sach) - rare steak, tripe pho

• • 1. Click to play     

• 19. Pronounce: Tô Bò Viên (Southern)/Tô Phở Bò Viên (Northern) (pho with meatballs) - Viet meatball pho

• • 1. Click to play     

• 20. Pronounce: Nước béo (fatty broth) - Southern/Northern similar