Confirmation with Phải Không | Vietnamese Grammar

Vietnamese phải không? asks the listener to confirm that a proposition is correct: “right?”, “is that right?”, or, depending on context, an English tag such as “isn’t it?” The proposition remains in ordinary declarative order, and phải không stands after it or follows as a short independent check.

This page focuses on confirmation. Chứ?, which more strongly projects that the listener will agree or comply, belongs to the next page.

The basic construction

The productive pattern is:

proposition + phải không?

The proposition is what the speaker currently believes or has inferred. Phải không? asks the listener to ratify or correct it.

Anh là bác sĩ, phải không?

You're a doctor, right?

Cuộc họp bắt đầu lúc chín giờ, phải không?

The meeting starts at nine, right?

Chị đã gửi hợp đồng rồi, phải không?

You've sent the contract already, right?

The comma in writing reflects a common prosodic break, but actual speech ranges from an integrated tag to a separate follow-up. Vietnamese verbs do not conjugate to match the English tag. The same phải không can follow a present, past, future, positive, or negative proposition.

Ngày mai mình gặp ở quán cũ, phải không?

We're meeting at the usual café tomorrow, right?

Em không ăn thịt, phải không?

You don't eat meat, right?

💡

Build the statement first, then add phải không? The tag checks the truth of the whole proposition; it does not agree with a subject or tense.

What phải không presupposes

A plain không or có...không question can be relatively open: the speaker asks which alternative holds. Phải không normally reveals that the speaker already leans toward the proposition. That belief may come from memory, visible evidence, or something another person said.

Form	Speaker’s starting point	Example
Bạn khỏe không?	Open inquiry	Are you well?
Anh có đi không?	Choose go / not go	Are you going?
Anh đi, phải không?	I believe you are going; confirm it	You're going, right?
Anh đi chứ?	I expect or want you to go	You're going, of course / right?

Because phải không exposes an assumption, it can be socially useful: it gives the listener a clear proposition to correct. It can also feel leading if the issue is sensitive. In an interview, medical consultation, or investigation, a more open có...không form may avoid pressuring the answer.

Full tag, shortened check, and independent question

After a full proposition, phải không? is transparent and broadly usable. It may also stand alone when the proposition has just been stated.

— Chuyến cuối rời bến lúc mười một giờ. — Phải không? Để tôi kiểm tra lại.

— The last service leaves at eleven. — Is that right? Let me check again.

An affirmative response may use đúng, phải, vâng/dạ, or repeat the proposition. Dạ is (polite) and commonly used by a younger or lower-status speaker; vâng is also polite and especially associated with Northern usage, though understood widely. A correction should state the corrected information, not merely say không.

— Nhà ga ở phía bên trái, phải không? — Đúng rồi.

— The station is on the left, right? — That's right.

— Mình gặp nhau thứ Sáu, phải không? — Không, thứ Bảy mới đúng.

— We're meeting on Friday, right? — No, Saturday is correct.

— Đây là xe của anh, phải không? — Không phải, xe của tôi ở ngoài kia.

— This is your car, right? — No, it isn't; my car is over there.

Negative propositions need explicit answers

In Em không uống cà phê, phải không?, the proposition being checked is “you do not drink coffee.” A bare vâng may acknowledge the speaker, but learners should not rely on English yes/no logic to identify the real-world answer. Repeat the predicate:

— Em không uống cà phê, phải không? — Đúng, em không uống cà phê.

— You don't drink coffee, right? — Correct, I don't drink coffee.

— Em không uống cà phê, phải không? — Không, em vẫn uống; chỉ là hôm nay em không muốn thôi.

— You don't drink coffee, right? — No, I do drink it; I just don't want any today.

The second reply first rejects the assumption, then supplies em vẫn uống (“I do still drink it”). That explicit predicate prevents the cross-linguistic ambiguity of answering a negative question with a lone “yes” or “no.”

Declarative order and wh-words

Vietnamese question words ordinarily remain where the requested information belongs. Phải không is a polar confirmation device, not a mechanism for moving ai, gì, nào, đâu, sao, bao giờ, or bao nhiêu.

Pattern	Example	Logic
Unknown subject	Ai đến?	Ai fills subject position
Unknown destination	Đi đâu?	Đâu follows the motion verb
Whole proposition to confirm	Lan đến, phải không?	The proposition precedes the tag
Expected permission	Được chứ?	Chứ projects acceptance

If you already have a candidate answer to a wh-question, replace the wh-word with that candidate and check the resulting proposition: Lan đến, phải không? If you do not know who came, ask Ai đến? Combining an unresolved wh-word with a yes/no confirmation tag usually asks two incompatible questions at once.

Phải không versus final particles

Compare reactions to seeing a familiar face in a photograph:

Question	Nuance
Đây là Mai, phải không?	I think this is Mai; please confirm accuracy
Đây là Mai à?	Oh, so this is Mai—new realization
Đây là Mai hả?	This is Mai?—direct informal reaction
Đây là Mai sao?	This is really Mai?—surprise or disbelief

English might use “Is this Mai?” for every line. Vietnamese makes the speaker’s prior stance overt. Phải không is the least inherently emotional of this set, though intonation can still make it insistent or skeptical.

Dialogue: checking, then correcting

— Hội thảo diễn ra ở tầng ba, phải không? — Đúng, nhưng phòng đã đổi từ 305 sang 312. — Vậy mình lên thẳng phòng 312 nhé? — Ừ, đi thôi.

— The seminar is on the third floor, right? — Yes, but the room has changed from 305 to 312. — Then let's go straight to room 312, okay? — Yes, let's go.

Phải không checks a factual proposition that the first speaker already believes. The answer confirms its main content but corrects one detail. The later nhé does something different: it seeks alignment on a proposed next action.

💡

A confirmation tag does not force a one-word answer. When a proposition is partly right, confirm the valid part and repair the inaccurate part explicitly.

Phải không? is normally neutral, but repeated tags can sound like cross-examination: Anh đã thấy rồi, phải không? Anh nhớ rõ, phải không? In sensitive contexts, give the listener room to disagree: Theo tôi nhớ thì..., phải không? (“As I remember it..., right?”) or ask an open question.

At the other end, a short phải không? can be a friendly comprehension check during explanation. Teachers and presenters use it to invite acknowledgment, but excessive use may pressure an audience to display agreement rather than genuine understanding.

Common Mistakes

1. Translating the English auxiliary into Vietnamese

❌ Có buổi phỏng vấn bắt đầu lúc chín giờ, phải không?

Incorrect — có has been inserted as if Vietnamese required English do-support.

✅ Buổi phỏng vấn bắt đầu lúc chín giờ, phải không?

The interview starts at nine, right?

Keep the declarative proposition intact and add the tag.

2. Copying English tag agreement

❌ Em đến rồi, có em không?

Incorrect — Vietnamese does not build a tag by repeating a subject and auxiliary like English ‘haven't you?’

✅ Em đến rồi, phải không?

You've arrived, right?

Phải không does not change for person, number, tense, or polarity.

3. Fronting a wh-word

❌ Đâu cuộc họp diễn ra?

Incorrect in an ordinary location question — đâu has been fronted under English influence.

✅ Cuộc họp diễn ra ở đâu?

Where is the meeting taking place?

The wh-phrase stays in the location slot. Once you have a candidate location, you can confirm it: Cuộc họp diễn ra ở tầng ba, phải không?

4. Giving an ambiguous response to a negative tag

❌ — Anh không lái xe, phải không? — Vâng.

Ambiguous — this does not reliably state whether he drives.

✅ — Anh không lái xe, phải không? — Đúng, tôi không lái xe.

— You don't drive, right? — Correct, I don't drive.

Repeat the decisive predicate so that the real-world polarity is explicit.

5. Using phải không when you have no prior belief

❌ Anh đi, phải không?

Awkward if the speaker genuinely has no expectation and wants an open choice.

✅ Anh có đi không?

Are you going?

Use có...không for an open polar question; use phải không when you have a proposition to verify.

Key Takeaways

Put phải không? after a complete proposition to ask whether it is correct.
The form is invariant: Vietnamese does not copy English auxiliary, tense, or polarity agreement into the tag.
Phải không suggests a prior belief; có...không is more open, while chứ more strongly expects agreement.
After negative questions, repeat the predicate or state the correction rather than relying on an isolated yes/no answer.

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