One of the ways that Hmong language is different from English is that Hmong people say past, present and future tense in a different way. They do not add letters such as ed, -s, and -ing. They use words like yesterday, a week ago, and a month ago. In Hmong, they call an e, an a and an a, an e. Hmong people still have some vowels that are opposite from the English vowels. The vowels are i, o, u, and w. Hmong and English are similar because they both use the ABC form.
To speak Hmong language, Hmong people use some words from Thai and Lao. The word Hmong means free. We speak mostly English in school and Hmong with our Hmong people. "One way we can keep our language is to keep using it." Speaking our language is important to us. That's the only language we have.
In Hmong language the last letter of the word tells how the tone of the word should be. If the last letter is a vowel, the tone is in the middle. The other ending consonants tell how the tone goes. Here are some Hmong words for you to use.
| Nyob zoo | Good morning, Hello |
| Koj nyob li cas lawn? | How are you? |
| Kuv noj qab nyob zoo ua txaug | I'm fine, thank you. |
| Kuv noj qab nyob zoo ib yam. | I'm fine, too. |
| Los hauv no. | Come in. |
| Thov zaum os. | Please sit down. |
| Sib ntsib dua | Goodbye. |
| Ua txaug | Thank you. |
| Tov txim | Sorry. |
| Tsis ua cas | Okay. |
| Lej | Numbers |
| Ib | One |
| Ob | Two |
| Peb | Three |
| Plaub | Four |
| Txib | Five |
| Rau | Six |
| Xyab | Seven |
| Yim | Eight |
| Luaj | Nine |
| Kaum | Ten |
| Tawb | Basket |
| Dev | Dog |
| Haus | Drink |
| Noog | Bird |
| Twm | Water Buffalo |
| Moos | Watch |
| Lab | Monkey |
| Zoo | Good |
| Pobzeb | Rock |
| Tawb | Pushed |
| Paj | Flower |
| Qaib | Chicken |
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