Vietnamese Grammar Bank
VIETNAMESE CONTINUOUS TENSE
In Vietnamese, the continuous tense is formed by using the word “đang” before the main verb to indicate an ongoing action.
This lesson will explain how to construct continuous tense sentences and highlight when to use this form in everyday conversations.
AFFIRMATIVE
When you want to express the action which is/was/ will be occurring, please use “đang” which means “being/be doing” before verb:
PATTERN
Subject + đang + verb + (time adverb)
Here are few common time adverbs which are used to describe an action in a continuous tense:
Present continuous time adverbs
| Vietnamese | English |
|---|---|
| Bây giờ | Now |
| Hiện tại | At the present |
| Ngay lúc này | Right now |
Past continuous time adverbs
| Vietnamese | English |
|---|---|
| Lúc + giờ hôm qua | At + hour yesterday |
| Thứ 2/Thứ 3/etc tuần trước | Last week Monday/Tuesday/etc |
| Tháng trước giờ này | At this moment but last month |
| Năm ngoái lúc này | At this moment but last year |
| Số + giờ trước, | Number + hour(s) ago, |
Future continuous time adverbs
| Vietnamese | English |
|---|---|
| Lúc + giờ ngày mai | At + hour tomorrow |
| Thứ 2/Thứ 3/etc tuần sau | Next week Monday/Tuesday/etc |
| Tháng sau giờ này | At this moment but next month |
| Năm sau lúc này | At this moment but next year |
| Lúc đó, | At that time, |
Let’s have a look at a few examples:
| vietnamese | english |
|---|---|
| Tôi đang ăn cơm bây giờ | I ‘m eating rice now |
| Tôi đang uống nước ngay lúc này | I’m drinking water right now |
| Hiện tại, anh ấy đang ngủ | At the present, He is sleeping |
| Tháng trước giờ này, cô ấy đang làm việc | At this moment but last month, she was working |
| Lúc 19h00 hôm qua, chị ấy đang học bài | At 19:00 yesterday, she was studying |
NEGATIVE
In continuous tense, you just need to add “không” (means “not”) before verb to make a negative sentence:
PATTERN
Subject + (đang) + không (not) + Verb + (time adverb)
| vietnamese | english |
|---|---|
| Tôi không đang ăn cơm bây giờ | I ‘m not eating rice now |
| Tôi không đang uống nước ngay lúc này | I’m not drinking water right now |
| Hiện tại, anh ấy không đang ngủ | At the present, He is not sleeping |
| Tháng trước giờ này, cô ấy không đang làm việc | At this moment but last month, she was not working |
NOTE || Review the negative form in Vietnamese here.
INTERROGATIVE
You just need to add the question words to the continuous tense sentence to make the sentence into the questions.
Here are examples of questions in continuous tense :
| Vietnamese | English |
|---|---|
| Bạn đang đi học ngày mai lúc này không? | Are you going to school at this moment tomorrow? |
| Bạn đang làm gì ? | What are you doing? |
| Em đang đi đâu tháng sau lúc này? | Where are you at this moment next month? |
| Ai đang ăn cơm với tôi? | Who is eating rice with me? |
| Khi nào bạn đang ở trên máy bay? | When are you on the plane? |
| Vì sao bạn đang ôm tôi? | Why are you hugging me? |
NOTE || Review the questions in Vietnamese here.
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FAQs
How to form the continuous tense?
The continuous tense is formed by adding “đang” before the main verb. For example, “Tôi đang ăn” means “I am eating.”
Can “đang” be used for both present and future continuous actions?
Yes, “đang” is used to indicate ongoing actions in the present.
To refer to future ongoing actions, a future marker like “sẽ” can be combined with “đang” (e.g., “Tôi sẽ đang làm việc” – “I will be working”).
Can “đang” be used for past continuous actions?
Yes, to express past continuous, combine “đang” with a time reference for the past (e.g., “Hôm qua, tôi đang đọc sách” – “Yesterday, I was reading”).
Is “đang” always required to express continuous actions in Vietnamese?
Yes, to explicitly express that an action is ongoing, “đang” is required.
However, in casual speech, context might make the use of “đang” optional.
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