Cậu đã dậy.

(perfective marker)

Breakdown of Cậu đã dậy.

• cậu: you (informal, peer)
• dậy: to get up

Questions & Answers about Cậu đã dậy.

What does cậu mean here, and can I use it for any you?

Here, cậu means you, but it is not a universal word for you.

It is usually used:

• with someone around your age
• with someone younger
• in a fairly casual or familiar relationship

Compared with bạn, cậu often feels more personal or relationship-based. Bạn is usually safer if you want a more neutral you.

So cậu works only when the social relationship fits.

Can cậu mean something else in other sentences?

Yes. Vietnamese words often depend heavily on context, and cậu is a good example.

Besides being a pronoun meaning you, cậu can also mean:

• maternal uncle
• a form of address in some family or regional patterns

In Cậu đã dậy, the meaning is clearly the pronoun you, not the family noun.

What does đã do in this sentence?

Đã is an aspect/time marker. In a sentence like this, it usually shows that the action is viewed as having already happened or been completed.

So it often corresponds to ideas like:

• already
• English past tense
• English present perfect

That does not mean đã is a one-to-one translation of English did or have. Vietnamese does not mark tense the same way English does. Đã helps place the action in a completed or past-like frame.