In Vietnamese, ở (originally meaning “to stay”) is used to express existence or actions happening at a place, similar to “to be at” or “to be in” in English.
Existence at a place
Place ở before the place. In this structure, ở acts as a verb. In English, there are no equivalent words; instead, a structure like “to be” plus a preposition is used.
Structure
ở + place
Examples
- Tôi ở nhà.I’m at home.
- Anh ấy ở Hà Nội.He’s in Hanoi. (can also mean “He lives in Hanoi.”)
- Nó ở đâu?Where is it?
Actions happening at a place
Place the verb before the adverbial of place.
Structure
verb (+ obj.) + ở + place
Examples
- Tôi sống ở Huế.I live in Huế.
- Anh ấy làm việc ở nước ngoài.He works abroad.
- Anh thích xem phim ở rạp không?Do you like watching films at the cinema?
Usage note
Since English uses “to be” for expressing existence, it may be tempting to use its Vietnamese equivalent là, but this is incorrect. Just use ở.
- Tôi là ở công viên. ❌
- Tôi ở công viên. ✔I’m at the park.