LinguaOne word does two jobs
ở is a verb: it means to be in a place. A sentence about where somebody is needs nothing else – no second verb, and above all no là. là links two nouns (Tôi là Nam), and a place is not a noun that names you.
Tôi ở nhà.I am at home.
When the sentence already has a verb, ở steps back and works as the preposition at / in. The order never changes: subject, verb, ở, place. Vietnamese has no article before the place, so ở trường covers at school and at the school alike.
Chúng tôi ăn cơm ở nhà.We eat at home.
| Pattern | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| subject + ở + place | Bố tôi ở nhà. | says where somebody is |
| subject + verb + ở + place | Em Mai học ở trường. | says where an action happens |
| subject + ở đâu? | Chị Lan ở đâu? | asks where somebody is |
Asking where: ở đâu
đâu means where. The question word stays exactly where the answer will stand – at the end of the sentence. English moves it to the front; Vietnamese never does. To answer, you simply put the place where đâu was, and nothing else moves: Nhà tôi ở Huế.
Nhà bạn ở đâu?Where is your house?
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ở | to be in a place; at | Anh Nam ở Hà Nội. Nam is in Hanoi. |
| đâu | where | Bạn đi đâu? Where are you going? |
| ở đâu | where (in what place) | Chị Lan ở đâu? Where is Lan? |
| nhà | house; home | Bố tôi ở nhà. My father is at home. |
| trường | school | Em Mai học ở trường. Mai studies at school. |
| chợ | market | Mẹ tôi đi chợ. My mother goes to the market. |
| công ty | company | Công ty của anh ấy ở Hà Nội. His company is in Hanoi. |
| làm việc | to work | Chị Hoa làm việc ở công ty. Hoa works at a company. |
| quán cà phê | café | Quán cà phê kia rất đẹp. That café over there is very pretty. |
| thành phố | city | Tôi sống ở thành phố này. I live in this city. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- match the pairs: 1
- fill the gap: 2
- build the sentence: 1
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Which sentence is built correctly?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.