Expressing simultaneity with "vừa"

In Vietnamese, we use vừa to express simultaneity, like “both … and …” and “while” (in “watching TV while eating”).

Structure

Place vừa before a verb (or an adjective or an adverb) and repeat it to express simultaneity.

vừa + verb 1 / adj. 1 / adv. 1 + vừa + verb 2 / adj. 2 / adv. 2

Be careful with what goes inside or outside the vừa … vừa … pattern because it can make a difference:

vừa biết hát vừa biết nhảy
can sing and can dancebut may or may not do both at the same time
biết vừa hát vừa nhảy
can sing and dance at the same time