Vietnamese phrase
How to say “What mistake did I make?” in Vietnamese
“What mistake did I make?” in Vietnamese is
Em bị lỗi gì ạ?
Hear it in both accents
Vietnamese sounds noticeably different north to south. Both are recorded so you can match wherever you are.
Northern
Hanoi and the north
Southern
Saigon and the south
Used in a sentence
Chào anh, em bị lỗi gì ạ?
Hello officer, what mistake did I make?
Northern
Hanoi and the north
Southern
Saigon and the south
Worth knowing
Word by word: Em (I) + bị (suffer/passive marker) + lỗi (mistake) + gì (what) + ạ (polite particle)
When you would use it
This line comes from the Traffic Stop Protocol situation pack in XinChao (Legend) — the moments you actually run into in Việt Nam, not textbook drills.
See the survival packsRelated phrases
- Cho tôi xem giá.Can I see the price?
- Chào em, cho anh kiểm tra giấy tờ xe.Hello, let me check your vehicle papers.
- Giấy tờ xe của em đây ạ.Here are my vehicle papers.
- Lấy giúp tôi một suất.One portion for me, please.
- Giấy tờ đủ rồi. Lần sau chú ý biển báo nhé. Đi đi.Papers are sufficient. Pay attention to the signs next time. Go ahead.
- Dạ, đây là bằng lái xe của em.Yes, here is my driver's license.