Tôi vặn van khóa.

I turn the shutoff valve.

Breakdown of Tôi vặn van khóa.

• tôi: me
• van khóa: the shutoff valve
• vặn: to turn; twist

Questions & Answers about Tôi vặn van khóa.

What does tôi mean here, and is it always the right way to say I in Vietnamese?

Tôi means I and is a very common, neutral first-person pronoun.

However, Vietnamese pronouns depend a lot on social relationship, age, and politeness. So tôi is not the only way to say I. In real life, speakers may use words like mình, em, anh, chị, etc., depending on who they are talking to.

In a neutral example sentence like Tôi vặn van khóa, tôi is a safe and standard choice.

What is the basic word order of Tôi vặn van khóa?

The sentence follows the very common Vietnamese pattern:

Subject + Verb + Object

So here:

• Tôi = subject
• vặn = verb
• van khóa = object

This is similar to English word order:

• I
  • turn
    • the shut-off valve / valve

So the structure is quite straightforward for an English speaker.

What does vặn mean exactly?

Vặn usually means to twist, to turn, or to screw/unscrew by twisting, depending on context.

In this sentence, it most naturally means to turn something by hand, especially something like a valve, knob, tap, or screw-like object.

So vặn suggests a twisting motion, not just any kind of movement.