Vietnamese hơi “slightly, a little” and khá “quite, fairly” let you avoid an all-or-nothing judgment. Both normally stand before a property word, but they do different social work: hơi presents a small departure from what is wanted or expected, while khá places something at a respectable, noticeable degree. Since Vietnamese property words can be predicates by themselves, neither expression needs a copula corresponding to English is.
This page covers moderate degree. The much stronger cực kỳ and vô cùng belong on Absolute Degree with Cực Kỳ and Vô Cùng.
The core pattern
Use:
subject + hơi/khá + property word
Phòng này hơi nhỏ.
This room is a little small.
Quán đó khá yên tĩnh, mình nói chuyện thoải mái lắm.
That café is fairly quiet; we can talk very comfortably there.
There is no missing là in either sentence. Nhỏ and yên tĩnh are stative predicates: they directly ascribe a property to the subject. Hơi and khá simply adjust the degree of that property.
The same degree phrases can modify a noun after it:
Tôi đang tìm một căn hộ khá rộng gần trường.
I'm looking for a fairly spacious apartment near the school.
The noun phrase is một căn hộ khá rộng: numeral một + classifier căn + noun hộ + degree phrase khá rộng. English puts fairly spacious before apartment; Vietnamese puts the property expression after căn hộ.
Hơi: a small deviation with speaker stance
Hơi marks a limited degree, commonly translated as a little, slightly, or rather. In everyday speech and neutral writing it often carries a mild reservation: the property is noticeable, but the speaker does not want to make a blunt criticism.
Món này hơi mặn; cho tôi xin thêm cơm nhé.
This dish is a little salty; could I have some more rice?
Hôm nay tôi hơi mệt nên về sớm.
I'm a little tired today, so I'm going home early.
Áo đẹp đấy, nhưng màu hơi tối.
The shirt is nice, but the color is a little dark.
The frequent association with unwanted properties is a pragmatic tendency, not a grammatical ban. Positive properties are possible when the speaker deliberately presents them as understated or unexpected:
Bộ phim này hơi cuốn đấy—đoạn cuối làm tôi bất ngờ.
This film is actually kind of gripping—the ending surprised me. (informal)
That positive hơi cuốn is conversational and stance-rich; a neutral review would more likely say khá hay. Likewise, hơi bị + property is a separate (informal, playful) construction that can intensify praise rather than weaken it:
Quán mới này hơi bị đẹp đấy!
This new place is seriously gorgeous! (informal, playful)
Do not infer the meaning of hơi bị đẹp compositionally from hơi đẹp. The fixed sequence hơi bị has developed its own expressive use and is inappropriate in formal prose.
Khá: a respectable or noteworthy degree
Khá usually means quite, fairly, or rather. It places a property above a merely weak degree without reaching the force of rất “very.” It works with favorable, unfavorable, and neutral assessments.
Bài này khá khó, nhưng phần hướng dẫn rất rõ.
This exercise is fairly difficult, but the instructions are very clear.
Nhà ga khá gần; đi bộ khoảng mười phút thôi.
The station is quite close; it's only about a ten-minute walk.
Máy vẫn chạy khá tốt dù đã cũ.
The machine still runs fairly well even though it is old.
Khá is register-neutral. It is common in conversation, reviews, reports, and measured recommendations. Context decides whether English quite sounds enthusiastic or restrained; Vietnamese khá itself normally gives a moderate, not absolute, assessment.
Compare the stance:
| Form | Typical force | Natural use |
|---|---|---|
| hơi đắt | a little expensive | soft reservation; price exceeds the speaker's comfort slightly |
| khá đắt | quite expensive | clear, measured assessment |
| rất đắt | very expensive | strong high degree |
| đắt lắm | very expensive | strong, often conversational evaluation |
| đắt quá | so/too expensive | reaction or excess, interpreted from context |
There is no universal numerical boundary between these forms. A hotel that one traveler calls khá đắt may be rất đắt to another. Degree marking encodes the speaker's scale and communicative stance, not a measurement printed in the dictionary.
Position matters: rất đẹp, đẹp lắm
Vietnamese degree words do not all occupy the same slot. Hơi, khá, and rất normally precede the property; lắm normally follows it.
Căn này khá đẹp, nhưng căn bên cạnh đẹp lắm.
This unit is quite attractive, but the one next door is very beautiful.
The following compact map keeps the positions clear:
| Construction | Meaning | Position |
|---|---|---|
| nhà đẹp | a beautiful house / the house is beautiful | bare property after noun or subject |
| rất đẹp | very beautiful | rất before property |
| đẹp lắm | very beautiful | lắm after property |
| đẹp hơn | more beautiful | hơn after property |
| căn nhà nhỏ màu xanh | the small blue/green house | descriptions after the noun |
Although rất đẹp and đẹp lắm often translate alike, they are not freely interchangeable word by word. Rất belongs before the property and works well in neutral exposition. Lắm follows it and often sounds more personally engaged in conversation. See the dedicated Sentence-Final Lắm page for its wider interaction with clause structure.
Moderate states can be located in time
Property words behave like predicates, so appropriate time and aspect expressions can frame their state. This is another reason not to insert là.
Dạo này căn phòng đang hơi tối vì tòa nhà bên cạnh che mất nắng.
These days the room is a little dark because the neighboring building blocks the sunlight.
Sau khi sửa, căn bếp đã khá rộng rồi.
After the renovation, the kitchen has become fairly spacious.
Đang presents the darkness as a current, context-bound condition. Đã ... rồi presents the roominess as the resulting state of a change. Not every property combines equally naturally with every aspect marker; add aspect only when a temporary state, developing condition, or change matters.
A recommendation changes with the degree word
A: Căn hộ đó thế nào? B: Phòng khách khá lớn và rất sáng, nhưng phòng ngủ hơi nhỏ. A: Vậy vẫn được; đồ đạc của mình không nhiều lắm.
A: What is that apartment like? B: The living room is fairly large and very bright, but the bedroom is a little small. A: Then it could still work; I don't have that much furniture.
Here khá lớn supports the recommendation, while hơi nhỏ introduces a manageable drawback. Replacing it with rất nhỏ would make the objection stronger; replacing khá lớn with hơi lớn would suggest that the size is somewhat excessive or unexpected. The grammatical pattern stays the same, but the interpersonal force changes.
Key Takeaways
- Mean “slightly,” often with a mild reservation? Use hơi + property.
- Mean “fairly/quite,” as a measured assessment? Use khá + property.
- Mean a clearly high degree? Use rất + property or property + lắm, with the correct position.
- Describing a noun? Keep the whole property phrase after it: một căn phòng hơi nhỏ.
- Predicating a property? Omit the English-style copula: Phòng hơi nhỏ.
Common Mistakes
1. Inserting a copula before a property predicate.
❌ Phòng này là hơi nhỏ.
Incorrect as a neutral statement: là does not introduce an ordinary property predicate.
✅ Phòng này hơi nhỏ.
This room is a little small.
Hơi nhỏ is already the predicate. Là is used for identity or classification, not as a translation of every English is.
2. Putting the description before the noun.
❌ Tôi muốn thuê một hơi nhỏ căn phòng.
Incorrect: this copies English pre-nominal adjective order.
✅ Tôi muốn thuê một căn phòng hơi nhỏ.
I want to rent a slightly small room.
Vietnamese keeps the numeral and classifier before phòng, then places hơi nhỏ after the noun.
3. Moving lắm into the pre-property slot.
❌ Căn hộ này lắm đẹp.
Incorrect: lắm does not occupy the normal pre-property degree slot.
✅ Căn hộ này đẹp lắm.
This apartment is very beautiful.
Use rất đẹp before the property or đẹp lắm after it. Similar English translations do not make the Vietnamese positions interchangeable.
4. Stacking degree words without a reason.
❌ Bài này khá rất khó.
Incorrect: khá and rất compete for the same pre-property degree position.
✅ Bài này khá khó.
This exercise is fairly difficult.
Choose the degree that expresses the intended strength. If you mean truly high degree, say rất khó rather than piling khá onto rất.
5. Reading informal hơi bị literally.
❌ Báo cáo cho biết tình hình hơi bị tốt.
Inappropriate: the playful intensifier hơi bị does not suit a formal report.
✅ Báo cáo cho biết tình hình khá tốt.
The report indicates that the situation is fairly good.
Use the register-neutral khá tốt in measured formal prose; reserve expressive hơi bị tốt for playful informal speech.
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