Prepositions

Vietnamese prepositions can sometimes be challenging for learners due to their versatile usage and the importance of context in determining their meanings. Let’s delve into how simple prepositions are used in Vietnamese, focusing on their roles in sentences, common prepositions, and examples of their usage.

Roles of Prepositions

Vietnamese prepositions serve to express various relational concepts:

1. Location: Indicates where something is situated.
2. Direction: Shows where something is moving towards.
3. Time: Specifies when something happens.
4. Purpose: Explains the reason for something.
5. Possession: Indicates ownership or belonging.

Common Prepositions and Their Usage

Here are some commonly used Vietnamese prepositions, along with examples to illustrate their usage:

• ở (at, in, on) - Used for location.
  • "Tôi ở nhà." (I am at home.)
• tới (to) - Used for direction.
  • "Tôi đi tới trường." (I go to school.)
• vào (into, on) - Can be used for time or direction.
  • "Họ vào nhà." (They go into the house.)
  • "Vào lúc 7 giờ." (At 7 o'clock.)
• với (with) - Indicates accompaniment.
  • "Tôi đi với bạn." (I go with my friend.)
• trong (in, within) - Used for location or time.
  • "Trong nhà." (In the house.)
  • "Trong một giờ." (Within an hour.)
• từ (from) - Indicates origin.
  • "Tôi đến từ Việt Nam." (I come from Vietnam.)