The frame đã...chưa? asks whether an event or change has happened by a relevant time: Em đã ăn chưa? “Have you eaten yet?” The positive pole is đã “already/by then,” and the negative pole is chưa “not yet.” Unlike a general có...không? question, this frame presents the event as something whose completion is expected, possible, or currently relevant.
This page focuses on đã...chưa?. The related pattern predicate + rồi chưa?, with its particular focus on reaching a result or new state, belongs to Rồi Chưa and Completion Checks.
The basic completion frame
Use:
subject + đã + predicate + chưa?
Vietnamese keeps statement order. The verb does not change form, and no equivalent of English have/has/did is inserted.
Em đã ăn sáng chưa?
Have you eaten breakfast yet?
Anh đã gửi email chưa?
Have you sent the email yet?
Chị đã gặp bác sĩ chưa?
Have you seen the doctor yet?
Each question locates a potential event before a contextually relevant boundary—now, a deadline, or another point in a story. Chưa asks whether that boundary has been reached without treating noncompletion as permanent.
Why this is aspect, not tense
Đã often receives a past translation, but it does not operate exactly like English past tense. It presents an event as realized before a reference point. That reference point can be in the future.
Đến thứ Sáu, anh đã nộp báo cáo chưa?
By Friday, will you have submitted the report?
Lúc tôi đến, mọi người đã ăn chưa?
When I arrived, had everyone eaten yet?
The time phrases đến thứ Sáu and lúc tôi đến establish the boundary. The unchanged verb nộp or ăn does not itself encode tense. This is why treating đã as a mechanical replacement for English -ed leads to errors.
Full and compact forms
In everyday speech, the initial đã may be omitted when the completion interpretation is obvious:
Em ăn chưa?
Have you eaten yet? (compact, conversational)
Em đã ăn chưa?
Have you eaten yet? (full frame)
Both are natural. The full frame explicitly marks the “already or not yet” contrast. The compact form is extremely common in routine questions such as meals, arrival, and completion. Do not infer that the shorter form is ungrammatical or careless.
However, chưa must still have scope over the relevant predicate. A long phrase can make the full frame easier to process:
Anh đã kiểm tra lại địa chỉ người nhận chưa?
Have you checked the recipient's address again yet?
A decision table: which polar frame?
| Form | Central issue | Expected negative answer |
|---|---|---|
| Bạn khỏe không? | whether a property holds | Không khỏe lắm. |
| Anh có đi không? | whether going occurs or is chosen | Không, tôi không đi. |
| Anh đã đi chưa? | whether departure has happened by now | Chưa, tôi sắp đi. |
| Ai đến? | identity of the person | a person's name, not yes/no |
| Anh đi đâu? | destination | a place, not yes/no |
| Anh đi rồi, phải không? | confirmation of the speaker's belief | a correction if the belief is wrong |
| Tôi vào được chứ? | permission with expected acceptance | an acceptance or refusal |
Compare Anh có đi không? “Are you going?” with Anh đã đi chưa? “Have you left yet?” The first asks about participation or intention. The second assumes departure is a relevant milestone and asks whether it has occurred.
— Mai anh có đi họp không? — Có, tôi sẽ đi.
— Are you going to the meeting tomorrow? — Yes, I am.
— Anh đã đi họp chưa? — Chưa, mười phút nữa tôi mới đi.
— Have you left for the meeting yet? — Not yet; I'm leaving in ten minutes.
Answering with completion status
The most direct negative answer is chưa or chưa + predicate. It leaves the positive event open. A positive answer often uses rồi, an echo with đã, or both in a fuller clause.
— Chị đã đặt vé chưa? — Chưa, tối nay tôi mới đặt.
— Have you booked the ticket yet? — Not yet; I won't book it until tonight.
— Em đã nộp bài chưa? — Em nộp rồi ạ.
— Have you submitted the assignment yet? — Yes, I have. (deferential)
— Anh đã đọc thông báo chưa? — Tôi đã đọc rồi.
— Have you read the notice yet? — Yes, I have.
This page uses rồi only to show ordinary answers. The separate Rồi Chưa and Completion Checks page explains how rồi chưa? profiles a result or new state.
English no does not preserve the temporal openness of chưa. Compare Tôi chưa đọc “I haven't read it yet” with Tôi không đọc “I don't read it / I won't read it.” The second may signal habit, choice, or refusal rather than pending completion.
Presupposition and social calibration
Because đã...chưa? treats completion as relevant or expected, it can communicate care, routine interest, impatience, or pressure. The same grammar changes force with address terms, context, and final particles.
Bà đã uống thuốc chưa ạ?
Have you taken your medicine yet, Grandma/ma'am? (deferential, caring)
Em đã gửi bản sửa chưa? Cả nhóm đang đợi.
Have you sent the revision yet? The whole team is waiting.
The first is a respectful care check; ạ marks deference. The second may sound like deadline pressure because the follow-up makes an unmet expectation explicit. Adding nhỉ would not automatically erase that pressure. Politeness comes from a coherent relationship, wording, and reason, not from attaching one particle.
When no completion is expected, đã...chưa? can impose an unwanted assumption. Asking a new colleague Anh đã có con chưa? “Do you have children yet?” can suggest that having children is an expected life milestone. Grammatically correct does not mean socially neutral. A context-appropriate open question may be better, or the topic may be avoided.
Information questions remain different
Questions with ai, gì, nào, đâu, sao, bao giờ, and bao nhiêu ask for missing information, not a positive-versus-negative completion status. Their question word normally occupies the slot of the answer.
Ai đã gửi tài liệu này?
Who sent this document?
Chị đã mua gì ở chợ?
What did you buy at the market?
Anh gửi hồ sơ cho ai?
Who did you send the application to?
Do not add final chưa unless the intended question truly combines information seeking with a not-yet contrast. Ai đã gửi tài liệu này? asks for the sender. Tài liệu này đã được gửi chưa? asks whether sending has happened. These are different information needs.
Alternative and confirmation questions
Named alternatives use hay:
Anh đã gửi bản tiếng Việt hay bản tiếng Anh?
Did you send the Vietnamese version or the English version?
This asks which version was sent. It does not ask whether sending has occurred. A tag such as phải không? instead checks a belief:
Chị đã báo cho Minh rồi, phải không?
You've already told Minh, right?
The speaker leans toward a positive answer. By contrast, Chị đã báo cho Minh chưa? more openly asks whether notification has occurred by now.
A natural dialogue
— Em đã đặt bàn chưa? — Chưa, nhà hàng chưa mở cửa.
— Have you reserved a table yet? — Not yet; the restaurant isn't open.
— Em có số điện thoại của họ không? — Có. Chín giờ em sẽ gọi.
— Do you have their phone number? — Yes. I'll call at nine.
— Thế em đã chọn giờ ăn chưa? — Chọn rồi: bảy giờ tối nhé.
— So have you chosen a dinner time yet? — Yes: seven this evening, okay?
The first and third questions track milestones in making the reservation. The middle có...không? question asks whether a resource is available, not whether a task is complete. Nhé in the final answer seeks agreement on the proposed time.
Common Mistakes
1. Stacking two polar-question frames.
❌ Em có đã ăn chưa không?
Incorrect — có...không and đã...chưa are competing frames here.
✅ Em đã ăn chưa?
Have you eaten yet?
2. Using không for a pending negative answer.
❌ — Anh đã gọi bác sĩ chưa? — Không.
Misleading if the call is merely pending; không can suggest refusal or categorical nonoccurrence.
✅ — Anh đã gọi bác sĩ chưa? — Chưa, lát nữa anh gọi.
— Have you called the doctor yet? — Not yet; I'll call shortly.
3. Adding English do-support.
❌ Em đã làm gửi email chưa?
Incorrect — làm cannot translate auxiliary ‘did/have’ in this question.
✅ Em đã gửi email chưa?
Have you sent the email yet?
4. Moving the question word to the front by default.
❌ Gì anh đã mua ở chợ?
Incorrect neutral order — gì remains in the object position.
✅ Anh đã mua gì ở chợ?
What did you buy at the market?
5. Putting chưa before the predicate in a neutral completion question.
❌ Anh đã chưa gửi email?
Incorrect as the neutral frame ‘Have you sent the email yet?’ — final chưa must close the questioned predicate.
✅ Anh đã gửi email chưa?
Have you sent the email yet?
The repair keeps đã before the predicate and places chưa after it, presenting the positive and not-yet alternatives as one frame.
Key Takeaways
- Use subject + đã + predicate + chưa? for an “already or not yet?” completion question.
- Đã expresses prior realization relative to a reference point; it is not simply past tense.
- The compact predicate + chưa? form is common when the completion meaning is obvious.
- Answer pending noncompletion with chưa, not categorical không.
- Choose có...không? for a general polar choice and đã...chưa? for completion by a relevant time.
Now practice Vietnamese
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Start learning Vietnamese →Related Topics
- Có...Không QuestionsA1 — Use the preverbal có...không frame to present a complete positive-versus-negative question without changing clause order.
- Rồi Chưa and Completion ChecksA1 — Ask whether an expected action or change has happened yet, and answer Vietnamese completion checks unambiguously.
- Ngay and Chính as Precision FocusC1 — Use ngay to locate an exact point or immediate boundary and chính to identify the precise participant, cause, or proposition at issue.
- Giúp and Requests for AssistanceA2 — Ask for practical help with giúp while matching Vietnamese address, particles, and degree of imposition to the relationship.