Chat With Me: How do you call someone whose age you have no idea at all?

Ms. Mariann Elias: Chào em. What I wanted to ask last Saturday is that how do you call someone whose age you have no idea at all. How do you start a conversation of that person. But you don't know if he is 'em' or 'anh', or she is 'bà' or 'bác?



In this case, we - native speakers, have to guess first.
we will guest how old they are
If you guess she is at your age (or younger a bit, or older a bit), then you should call yourself "Em"
and call her "Chị"
She doesn't know your age, then she will call you "Chị" and call herself "Em"


The best way is to ask: Không biết phải xưng hô như thế nào ạ! (Which means Don't know how to address/call)
When you say that, they will, maybe, tell you their ages, and their names


Sometimes I called some guys "Anh" because I felt they were older than me
Then later on I knew they were younger than me
All just because I looked younger than them
haha