Bạn tớ khắc hoa văn trên quai cốc.

on (on top of)

Breakdown of Bạn tớ khắc hoa văn trên quai cốc.

• bạn: the friend
• tớ: I (informal, peer)
• quai cốc: the cup handle

Questions & Answers about Bạn tớ khắc hoa văn trên quai cốc.

What does bạn tớ mean here? I thought bạn means you.

In this sentence, bạn means friend, not you.

Vietnamese bạn can mean:

• friend
• you in a friendly/neutral way

Here, bạn is followed by tớ, so bạn tớ means my friend.

That is a very common pattern:

• anh tôi = my older brother
• bạn mình = my friend
• cô ấy = she / that woman

So in bạn tớ khắc..., bạn tớ is the subject: my friend.

Why is it bạn tớ and not bạn của tớ?

Vietnamese often shows possession simply by putting the possessor after the noun:

• bạn tớ = my friend
• nhà tôi = my house
• mẹ nó = his/her mother

The word của can also show possession, but it is often omitted when the relationship is clear and natural.

So:

• bạn tớ = natural, common
• bạn của tớ = also correct, but a bit more explicit

With family members, friends, and other close relationships, leaving out của is especially common.

What is the difference between tớ and tôi?