Tôi muốn thoát.

I want to get out.

Breakdown of Tôi muốn thoát.

• muốn: to want
• tôi: me
• thoát: to exit; get out

Questions & Answers about Tôi muốn thoát.

What does each word in Tôi muốn thoát mean?

A simple breakdown is:

• Tôi = I
• muốn = want
• thoát = escape / get out / exit

So the structure is very straightforward:

• Tôi
  • muốn
    • thoát
• I
  • want
    • to escape / get out

Vietnamese often does not need a separate word for to before the second verb, so muốn thoát naturally means want to escape or want to get out.

Is tôi always the right way to say I?

Not always. Tôi is a neutral, fairly safe way to say I, especially in standard Vietnamese and when you do not want to show a close personal relationship.

However, Vietnamese pronouns depend heavily on:

• age
• social relationship
• level of formality
• region

For example, depending on who you are speaking to, you might hear or use:

• mình
• em
• anh
• chị
• con
• cháu

So Tôi muốn thoát is grammatically correct, but in real conversation another pronoun might sound more natural depending on the situation.