Cho introduces a recipient—the person something is transferred or communicated to—or a beneficiary, the person for whose benefit an action is done. It can also be a full lexical verb meaning “give” and, in another construction, “allow/let.” These uses are connected, but their word order and grammatical jobs differ.
English often uses to for recipients and for for beneficiaries. Vietnamese cho covers both roles because each involves directing an object, message, or favorable result toward someone. This page focuses on that recipient–beneficiary domain. Vì for reasons and purposes is treated separately on the reason and purpose page.
Beneficiary: doing something for someone
The most transparent coverbal frame is verb + object + cho + beneficiary. The action creates, obtains, or prepares something for the person introduced by cho.
Tôi mua một ít trái cây cho bà ngoại.
I bought some fruit for Grandma.
Anh nấu bữa tối cho cả nhà nhé.
Please cook dinner for the whole family.
Chị giữ chỗ cho em rồi đấy.
I've saved a seat for you already.
In each example, the person after cho is not an instrument, companion, or location. They benefit from the result. The common neutral order keeps the direct object next to the verb and places cho + beneficiary afterward.
Recipient: transferring an object or message
With verbs such as gửi “send,” đưa “hand/take,” trả “return/pay back,” and đọc “read aloud,” cho + person can identify the recipient.
Tôi đã gửi hợp đồng cho khách hàng sáng nay.
I sent the contract to the client this morning.
Đưa điện thoại cho mẹ đi, mẹ đang cần gọi.
Give the phone to Mom; she needs to make a call.
Tối nay con đọc truyện cho em nghe nhé.
Tonight, read a story aloud for your younger sibling, okay?
The event determines the precise interpretation. After gửi hợp đồng, the client receives the document. After đọc truyện, the younger sibling benefits as the hearer; Vietnamese frequently adds nghe to make that listening role explicit.
Word order can shift for information structure. Tôi gửi cho em một đường link is also natural, especially when the recipient is prominent or the transferred item is new information. For learners, gửi + thing + cho + recipient is a dependable neutral pattern.
Em gửi cho chị địa chỉ nhà hàng nhé.
Send me the restaurant's address, okay?
Do not treat both orders as mechanically interchangeable in every long sentence. Keep the recipient near cho, and use context to decide which information deserves the final, often focal position.
Lexical cho: give
When cho is the main lexical verb meaning “give,” a common frame is subject + cho + recipient + thing.
Bố cho tôi một chiếc xe đạp cũ.
Dad gave me an old bicycle.
Cô ấy cho em bé một cái bánh.
She gave the baby a cake.
Here cho itself names the transfer event. Compare:
| Structure | Role of cho | Example |
|---|---|---|
| cho + recipient + thing | lexical verb “give” | cho em một cuốn sách — give you a book |
| verb + thing + cho + recipient | recipient marker | gửi sách cho em — send a book to you |
| verb + thing + cho + beneficiary | beneficiary marker | mua sách cho em — buy a book for you |
The same surface phrase cho em can therefore participate in different structures. Find the main predicate first: in cho em một cuốn sách, cho is “give”; in mua một cuốn sách cho em, mua is the event and cho em adds the beneficiary.
Lexical cho: allow or let
Before a person plus an action, cho can mean “allow/let”: cho + person + verb phrase.
Mẹ cho con đi chơi đến chín giờ.
Mom lets me go out until nine.
Cho tôi hỏi nhà vệ sinh ở đâu ạ?
May I ask where the restroom is?
The second example is a standard polite formula. Literally it asks to be allowed to ask; functionally it gently opens a question. This is not a beneficiary phrase. In Mẹ cho con đi chơi, con is the permitted actor of đi chơi.
Distinguishing recipient, goal, companion, and means
Vietnamese assigns each participant or circumstance a specific relation:
| Phrase | Relation | Question answered |
|---|---|---|
| ở nhà | static location | where? |
| đến trường | goal | to what place? |
| từ Hà Nội | source | from where? |
| với bạn | accompaniment | with whom? |
| bằng xe buýt | means | by what means? |
| cho em | recipient/beneficiary | to/for whom? |
| trên bàn | spatial relation | where relative to the table? |
Sáng nay tôi đi từ nhà đến trường bằng xe buýt với anh trai để nộp hồ sơ cho em.
This morning I went from home to school by bus with my older brother to submit an application for you.
Every phrase has its own job: từ nhà gives the source, đến trường the goal, bằng xe buýt the means, với anh trai the companion, and cho em the beneficiary. Vietnamese does not rely on a single general-purpose preposition.
Cho does not replace every English for or to
English for can mark a beneficiary, duration, purpose, reason, or intended function. Only the beneficiary/recipient senses straightforwardly use cho.
| English relation | Vietnamese pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| for a person | cho + person | mua hoa cho mẹ — buy flowers for Mom |
| for two hours | trong + duration | học trong hai giờ — study for two hours |
| for the purpose of | để + clause | đến để gặp bạn — come to meet you |
| because of | vì/do + cause | nghỉ vì bị ốm — take leave because of illness |
Agentive by commonly uses do or bởi in formal or passive-like structures. None of these roles should be replaced by cho merely because an English translation happens to contain for or to.
Precise locations also retain a separate spatial noun: ở trên bàn, ở dưới gầm giường, ở trong phòng, ở ngoài sân, ở trước cửa, ở sau nhà. For example, Tôi để quà cho em ở trên bàn means “I left your gift on the table”: cho em marks the beneficiary, while ở trên bàn locates the gift.
A short dialogue: who receives and who benefits?
A: Cậu đang làm gì thế?
A: What are you doing?
B: Tớ đang đặt bánh sinh nhật cho mẹ.
B: I'm ordering a birthday cake for Mom.
A: Khi nào cửa hàng giao bánh cho cậu?
A: When will the shop deliver the cake to you?
B: Họ giao cho tớ vào chiều mai, rồi tớ mang đến nhà mẹ.
B: They'll deliver it to me tomorrow afternoon, and then I'll take it to Mom's house.
In đặt bánh cho mẹ, Mom is the beneficiary and intended recipient of the cake. In giao bánh cho cậu, “you” are the immediate delivery recipient. Đến nhà mẹ is a spatial goal, so it uses đến, not cho.
Common Mistakes
1. Using với for a beneficiary.
❌ Tôi mua thuốc với ông ngoại.
Wrong if you mean ‘I bought medicine for Grandpa’; this says Grandpa accompanied you.
✅ Tôi mua thuốc cho ông ngoại.
I bought medicine for Grandpa.
Cho marks the person who benefits; với would make him a companion.
2. Using đến for a human recipient.
❌ Tôi gửi ảnh đến em.
Unnatural in the intended everyday meaning ‘I sent the photos to you.’
✅ Tôi gửi ảnh cho em.
I sent the photos to you.
Đến can mark institutional or address-like destinations, but an ordinary personal recipient is naturally introduced by cho.
3. Copying English ‘allow someone to do’ too literally.
❌ Mẹ cho con để đi chơi.
Incorrect for ‘Mom lets me go out’; the permission frame does not insert để before the permitted action.
✅ Mẹ cho con đi chơi.
Mom lets me go out.
Because con performs the following verb đi chơi, cho has the permission meaning. Vietnamese places that action directly after the permitted person, without an equivalent of English infinitival to.
4. Translating duration for as cho.
❌ Tôi đợi bạn cho hai giờ.
Incorrect for ‘I waited for you for two hours’; cho cannot mark duration.
✅ Tôi đợi bạn trong hai giờ.
I waited for you for two hours.
Here bạn is the person awaited and trong hai giờ gives the duration. English uses for twice with different functions; Vietnamese does not.
Key Takeaways
- Verb + thing + cho + person marks a recipient or beneficiary.
- Lexical cho + recipient + thing means “give”; cho + person + action means “allow/let.”
- The main verb and word order reveal whether cho is lexical or coverbal.
- Do not extend cho to every English for or to: duration, reason, purpose, and spatial goals use other Vietnamese structures.
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