Lửa trại ở ngoài lều.

The campfire is outside the tent.

Breakdown of Lửa trại ở ngoài lều.

• ở: at
• ngoài: outside
• lều: the tent
• lửa trại: the campfire

Questions & Answers about Lửa trại ở ngoài lều.

What does each word in Lửa trại ở ngoài lều mean?

• lửa = fire
• trại = camp
• lửa trại = campfire
• ở = at / in / located at
• ngoài = outside
• lều = tent

So word by word, it is roughly campfire at outside tent, which natural English expresses as The campfire is outside the tent or A campfire is outside the tent.

Why is there no word for is in this sentence?

Vietnamese often does not need a verb like to be in simple location sentences.

So:

• Lửa trại ở ngoài lều = The campfire is outside the tent

Here, ở handles the idea of location, so you do not add another word meaning is.

This is very common in Vietnamese:

• Tôi ở nhà = I am at home
• Sách ở trên bàn = The book is on the table

What exactly does ở do here?