Common Verbs in Vietnamese

In Brief

Vietnamese verbs do not change for person or number: tôi đi means “I go,” while họ đi means “they go.” The same verb form can also be used with past, present, or future meaning; context, time expressions, and words such as đã, đang, and sẽ locate the action in time. Start by learning each verb with the words it naturally goes with, such as ăn cơm, uống nước, and đi làm.

Overview

A verb is a word for an action, event, or state. Nine verbs cover a remarkable amount of everyday Vietnamese: đi (go), đến (come or arrive), ăn (eat), uống (drink), ngủ (sleep), làm (do, make, or work), nói (speak or say), viết (write), and đọc (read). With them, you can describe a routine, order food, say where someone is going, and talk about basic language activities.

This is an A1 topic, but it teaches more than a vocabulary list. You need to know where a destination, an object, or a time phrase belongs. An object is the person or thing affected by an action: in Tôi đọc sách (“I read books”), sách is the object. Vietnamese usually puts the subject first, then the verb, then the object: Tôi đọc sách.

For an English-speaking learner, the simple verb form is welcome: there is no equivalent of “goes,” “went,” or “written” to memorize here. The challenge is resisting the urge to translate every English word separately. Vietnamese builds meaning through context and familiar combinations. For example, đi làm is the ordinary way to say “go to work,” and ăn cơm often means “eat” or “have a meal,” not only “eat rice.”

How It Works

One form for every subject

A subject is whoever or whatever performs the action. Changing the subject does not change the Vietnamese verb.

Subject	Vietnamese	English
I	Tôi đi.	I go.
she	Cô ấy đi.	She goes.
we	Chúng tôi đi.	We go.
they	Họ đi.	They go.

English adds -s in “she goes”; Vietnamese does not. Pronouns and terms of address can change according to the relationship between speakers, but the verb remains the same.

The basic sentence patterns

Pattern	Use	Example	Meaning
Subject + verb	No object is needed	Em ngủ.	I/younger person sleep(s).
Subject + verb + object	The action affects something	Tôi đọc báo.	I read the newspaper.
Subject + movement verb + place	State a destination	Chị ấy đến Hà Nội.	She comes/arrives in Hanoi.
Time + subject + verb + object	Set the time first	Tối nay tôi đọc sách.	I am reading tonight.
Subject + time/aspect marker + verb	Show how the action unfolds in time	Tôi đang viết.	I am writing.

A time expression often appears at the beginning of the sentence or after the subject: Ngày mai tôi đi Huế and Tôi ngày mai đi Huế can both be understood, though the first is a straightforward beginner pattern. A destination normally follows đi or đến directly: đi Hà Nội, đến trường.

The nine core verbs

Verb	Core meaning	Useful combinations	Example
đi	go; leave	đi học (go to school/study), đi làm (go to work), đi bộ (walk)	Tôi đi làm.
đến	come; arrive; reach	đến nhà (come to the house), đến trường (arrive at school)	Xe đến rồi.
ăn	eat	ăn cơm (eat/have a meal), ăn sáng (eat breakfast), ăn phở	Chúng tôi ăn cơm.
uống	drink	uống nước, uống trà, uống cà phê	Em uống cà phê.
ngủ	sleep	đi ngủ (go to bed), ngủ trưa (take a midday nap)	Bé đang ngủ.
làm	do; make; work	làm việc (work), làm bài (do an exercise), làm bánh (make a cake)	Anh ấy làm việc.
nói	speak; say; talk	nói tiếng Việt, nói chuyện (talk/chat), nói với... (say to...)	Cô ấy nói tiếng Việt.
viết	write	viết thư, viết email, viết tên	Bạn viết tên ở đây.
đọc	read	đọc sách, đọc báo, đọc email	Tôi đọc báo.

Some English verbs require a preposition where Vietnamese does not. You say đọc sách (“read books”), not a structure corresponding to “read of books.” In other cases, Vietnamese uses its own connector: nói với bạn means “speak with/to a friend.” Learn the whole phrase rather than guessing from English.

Showing time without conjugation

Vietnamese can leave time unmarked when it is obvious. Mỗi ngày tôi đi làm is present and habitual because mỗi ngày means “every day.” Hôm qua tôi đi làm refers to yesterday even though đi is unchanged.

Words commonly introduced with these verbs include:

Marker	Basic job	Example	Natural translation
đang	action in progress	Tôi đang ăn.	I am eating.
đã	action viewed as completed or prior	Tôi đã ăn.	I ate / I have eaten.
sẽ	expected or future action	Tôi sẽ đi.	I will go.
rồi	action/state has occurred or changed	Tôi ăn rồi.	I have eaten already.
không	negation	Tôi không uống cà phê.	I do not drink coffee.

These are not verb endings, and they are not always required. In particular, đã is not a compulsory “past tense.” Hôm qua tôi ăn phở already has a clear past-time setting.

Examples in Context

Vietnamese	English	Note
Tôi đi làm mỗi ngày.	I go to work every day.	A routine with mỗi ngày.
Ngày mai chúng tôi đến Đà Nẵng.	Tomorrow we arrive in Da Nang.	The time phrase comes first.
Bạn đi đâu?	Where are you going?	đâu asks about the destination.
Chúng tôi ăn cơm lúc bảy giờ.	We eat at seven o’clock.	ăn cơm can mean having a meal.
Em uống cà phê, còn anh uống trà.	I drink coffee, while you drink tea.	Kinship terms can function as “I” and “you.”
Con đang ngủ.	The child is sleeping.	đang marks an action in progress.
Mẹ làm bánh vào cuối tuần.	Mom makes cakes on weekends.	Here làm means “make.”
Anh ấy làm việc ở bệnh viện.	He works at a hospital.	Use làm việc for “work.”
Anh ấy nói tiếng Việt giỏi.	He speaks Vietnamese well.	giỏi evaluates the skill.
Tôi nói chuyện với bạn sau giờ học.	I talk with my friend after class.	nói chuyện với means “talk with.”
Cô ấy viết email cho khách hàng.	She writes an email to the customer.	cho introduces the recipient.
Buổi tối, ông đọc báo.	In the evening, he reads the newspaper.	ông may refer respectfully to an older man.
Tôi đã đọc cuốn sách này rồi.	I have already read this book.	đã ... rồi stresses completion.
Mệt quá, tôi đi ngủ đây.	I’m so tired; I’m going to bed now.	đi ngủ is the usual phrase for going to bed.

Notice that the English translations sometimes need “am,” “does,” “to,” or a changed verb form. Those English words do not imply that Vietnamese needs matching words in the same positions.

Common Mistakes

Adding an English-style verb ending

• Wrong: Cô ấy đi-s làm.
• Right: Cô ấy đi làm.
• Why: Vietnamese verbs never take English -s. Đi has the same form after every subject.

Treating đã as mandatory for every past event

• Awkward: Hôm qua tôi đã đi chợ when completion is not being emphasized.
• Natural: Hôm qua tôi đi chợ.
• Also correct: Hôm qua tôi đã đi chợ rồi.
• Why: Hôm qua already establishes past time. Add đã or đã ... rồi when viewing the event as completed or when that completion matters in context; their presence is possible, not automatic.

Using làm alone for every meaning of “work”

• Wrong: Tôi làm ở nhà mỗi ngày if you simply mean “I work at home every day” and no job is understood from context.
• Right: Tôi làm việc ở nhà mỗi ngày.
• Why: Làm việc explicitly means “work.” Bare làm can be natural when the job or task is supplied or understood, as in Bạn làm nghề gì? (“What do you do for work?”).

Translating “go to eat” word for word

• Awkward: đi để ăn for an ordinary invitation to get food
• Natural: đi ăn
• Why: Vietnamese commonly places verbs together: đi ăn means “go eat/go to eat.” Để can mean “in order to,” but it sounds unnecessarily explicit here.

Confusing đi and đến

• Wrong: Tôi đến nhà lúc tám giờ when you mean only “I leave home at eight.”
• Right: Tôi đi lúc tám giờ. / Tôi rời nhà lúc tám giờ.
• Why: Đi presents movement away or going; đến focuses on reaching or coming to a destination. Perspective and context determine the most natural choice.

Assuming ăn cơm always means literal rice

• Misleading translation: Bạn ăn cơm chưa? = “Have you eaten rice yet?”
• Natural translation: “Have you eaten yet?”
• Why: Although cơm can mean cooked rice, ăn cơm often refers more broadly to eating a meal.

Usage Notes

Vietnamese subject words carry social information. Tôi is a useful neutral “I,” but speakers often use kinship terms such as anh, chị, and em for both themselves and the person addressed. That is why Em uống cà phê may mean “I drink coffee” when the speaker identifies as the younger person. This choice changes the relationship expressed, not the form of uống.

Objects can be omitted when everyone knows what is meant. At a meal, Ăn chưa? (“Eaten yet?”) is a normal conversational question; the subject and food are understood. Beginners should first learn complete patterns such as Bạn ăn cơm chưa?, then learn to recognize shorter conversational forms.

A few combinations are more useful than isolated dictionary meanings. Đi học can mean “go to school” or “attend school/study,” đi làm can mean “go to work,” and nói chuyện means “talk/chat,” not literally “speak matter.” Natural Vietnamese depends heavily on these conventional pairings.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master these points at A1, but common verbs take on wider meanings as your Vietnamese develops.

First, movement verbs frequently appear in serial verb constructions—sequences of verbs that share one subject without a word equivalent to English “and” or “to.” Examples include đi mua đồ (“go buy things”), đến gặp tôi (“come meet me”), and về nhà ngủ (“go home and sleep”). Direction words can add a viewpoint: đi ra “go out,” đi vào “go in,” đến đây “come here,” and đi đến “go/reach.” The exact interpretation comes from the direction and the speaker’s viewpoint.

Second, aspect becomes more nuanced than a simple past-present-future chart. Aspect means how a speaker views an action—for example, as ongoing, completed, repeated, or newly changed. Đang highlights an ongoing action; rồi can signal completion or a new situation; từng expresses past experience; thường marks what usually happens. Compare Tôi đọc sách (“I read books/I am reading, in context”), Tôi đang đọc sách (“I am in the middle of reading”), and Tôi từng đọc sách đó (“I have read that book before”).

Finally, several verbs develop idiomatic senses. Ăn appears in expressions beyond literal eating, while làm can introduce occupations, causes, products, or tasks. Do not assume every advanced expression can be decoded word by word. Learn it from a full sentence and check how native speakers use it.

Practice Tips

1. Build a nine-verb routine. Write one true sentence about your day with each verb: Sáng tôi uống cà phê, Tối tôi đọc sách, and so on. Reuse the stable verb while changing the subject or time.
2. Learn phrases, not bare translations. Make cards for đi làm, ăn cơm, uống nước, đi ngủ, làm việc, nói chuyện, viết email, and đọc báo. Say each phrase in a short sentence.
3. Retell yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Use the same action three times with hôm qua, hôm nay, and ngày mai. This trains you to express time without changing the verb.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Basic Verb Structure — explains Vietnamese subject–verb–object order and the basic use of đã, đang, and sẽ.