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Vietnamese Grammar Bank
VIETNAMESE SIMULTANEOUS ACTIONS
In this free grammar lesson we teach you two phrases to state or to describe two actions happening at the same time in Vietnamese. They are:
“Vừa… vừa”
“Khi….” / “….khi…”
VỪA…VỪA – DO BOTH THINGS / WHILE
To express two actions done at the same time by one person or one subject, you can use “vừa…vừa…” by following the pattern below:
PATTERN
Subject + vừa + action 1 + vừa + action 2
NOTE || Add “đang” after subject when you want to highlight “doing something”:
Subject + đang + vừa + action 1 + vừa + action 2
You can use “vừa…vừa…” to describe both:
• Two short actions which are being happened at the moment (as a habit or something being done at present)
• Two long actions which are happened at same time but as a background of someone (such as occupation, family, relationship, etc)
| Tôi vừa đi học vừa đi làm | I both study and work (Background) |
| Tôi vừa ăn cơm vừa xem TV | I watch TV when I have rice (Habit) |
| Anh ấy vừa làm thầy giáo vừa làm nhân viên văn phòng | He is both a teacher and an office worker (Background) |
View More Examples:
| Anh ấy đang vừa tắm vừa hát | He is singing while he is showering (Actions at present time) |
| Chị ấy vừa làm mẹ vừa làm cha | She is both a mom and a dad (Background) |
| Chị ấy đang vừa nhắn tin vừa nghe điện thoại | She is texting while she is making a call (Actions at present time) |
KHI…. / …KHI… – WHEN
To express two actions done at the same time by one or more than one person or one subject, you can use “khi” by following this pattern below:
PATTERN #1
Subject + action 1 + khi + subject + action 2
PATTERN #2
Khi + subject + action 1, subject + action 2
NOTE || You can add “đang” after subject when you want to highlight “doing something”
Subject + đang + action 1 + khi + subject + đang + action 2
or
Khi + subject + đang + action 1, subject + đang + action 2
You can use “khi” only to describe two short actions which are happening at the same time or as a daily habit.
For example:
| Khi tôi đang chạy bộ, con chó sủa Con chó sủa khi tôi chạy bộ | When I was running, the dog barked The dog barks when I go running |
| Tôi đi làm về khi mẹ tôi đang nấu ăn Khi mẹ tôi nấu ăn, tôi đi làm về | I go home when mom is cooking When mom cooks, I am home from work |
| Trời mưa khi tôi đang học bài Khi tôi đang học bài, trời mưa | It starts to rain when I am studying When I am studying, it starts to rain |
View More Examples:
| Khi ba xem TV, mẹ tôi nấu ăn Khi mẹ tôi nấu ăn, ba tôi xem TV | When dad watches TV, mom cooks When mom cooks, dad watches TV |
| Em ấy ngủ khi tôi đang nói chuyện Tôi nói chuyện khi em ấy đang ngủ | She sleeps when I am talking I talk when she is sleeping |
| Khi em ấy học Tiếng Anh, tôi học Tiếng HànKhi tôi học Tiếng Hàn, em ấy học Tiếng Anh | When she studies English, I study KoreanWhen I study Korean, she studies English |
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FAQs
How to express two simultaneous actions in Vietnamese?
To express two actions done at the same time by one person or one subject, you can use “vừa…vừa…” by following the pattern below:
Subject + vừa + action 1 + vừa + action 2
You can use “vừa…vừa…” to describe both:
• Two short actions which are being happened at the moment (as a habit or something being done at present)
• Two long actions which are happened at same time but as a background of someone (such as occupation, family, relationship, etc)
What are some examples with vừa?
Tôi vừa đi học vừa đi làm
I both study and work
Tôi vừa ăn cơm vừa xem TV
I watch TV when I have rice
How to use khi in Vietnamese?
To express two actions done at the same time by one or more than one person or one subject, you can use “khi” by following this pattern below:
Subject + action 1 + khi + subject + action 2
or Khi + subject + action 1, subject + action 2
You can use “khi” only to describe two short actions which are happening at the same time or as a daily habit.
How to say “very, too” in Vietnamese?
In Vietnamese, in order to express “very” or “too”, you can follow this pattern below:
Rất + adjective!
Rất nóng! → Việt Nam rất nóng!
Too hot! → Vietnam is too hot!
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