Nhân viên cộng thêm phí.

It follows standard Vietnamese Subject–Verb–Object order:

• Nhân viên = subject
• cộng thêm = verb phrase
• phí = object

So the structure is very similar to English Staff add an extra fee / The employee charges an additional fee.

Nhân viên is a general word for employee or staff member. Depending on context, it can refer to:

• one employee
• employees in general
• a staff member at a business, office, hotel, store, etc.

Vietnamese often does not mark singular vs. plural unless needed, so nhân viên can mean the employee, an employee, or staff members.

Vietnamese does not use articles the way English does. In this sentence:

• nhân viên does not need a, an, or the
• phí does not need a fee or the fee

Whether something is definite or indefinite is usually understood from context.

So Vietnamese can say simply Nhân viên cộng thêm phí, where English would usually need something like The staff add an extra fee or The employee charges an additional fee.

Cộng literally means add.
Thêm means more, extra, or in addition.

Together, cộng thêm means something like:

• add on
• add extra
• charge additionally

In this sentence, it means the staff are adding an extra fee rather than just mentioning a fee.

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• cộng phí = add/include a fee
• cộng thêm phí = add an extra fee / add more fee

So thêm emphasizes that the fee is additional. It makes the idea of extra charge clearer.

These words are related but not the same:

• phí = fee, charge
• giá = price
• tiền = money

So:

• phí is the best choice for a service charge, handling fee, surcharge, etc.
• giá would refer more to the price of the item/service itself
• tiền is more general and less precise

In this sentence, phí specifically means a fee/charge.

Vietnamese verbs do not change form for tense the way English verbs do. Cộng stays the same.

So Nhân viên cộng thêm phí could mean different times depending on context:

• present: The staff add an extra fee
• habitual: The staff usually charge an extra fee
• past: The staff added an extra fee
• future: The staff will add an extra fee

If needed, Vietnamese can add time words or markers such as:

• đã for past
• đang for ongoing action
• sẽ for future

For example:

• Nhân viên đã cộng thêm phí.
• Nhân viên sẽ cộng thêm phí.

Yes, it is understandable and grammatical. But in real-life situations, Vietnamese speakers might also say:

• Nhân viên tính thêm phí.
• Nhân viên thu thêm phí.
• Có cộng thêm phí.

The difference is nuance:

• cộng thêm phí = add on an extra fee
• tính thêm phí = charge extra / calculate an extra fee
• thu thêm phí = collect an extra fee

So your sentence is fine, but some alternatives may sound more common depending on the situation.

In this sentence, nhân viên is naturally understood as the subject because of the word order.

Vietnamese relies heavily on position. In:

• Nhân viên cộng thêm phí

the first noun phrase is usually the doer of the action, so nhân viên is the one doing the adding.

If you wanted nhân viên to be the object, the sentence would need a different structure.

You would usually change the structure, often using bị for a passive-like meaning:

• Khách bị cộng thêm phí.
• Khách bị tính thêm phí.

These mean The customer is charged an extra fee.

So your original sentence focuses on who does the action (nhân viên), while the new sentence focuses on who receives the action (khách).

The tones matter a lot:

• nhân — mid-level tone
• viên — level tone
• cộng — heavy falling/glottalized tone
• thêm — level tone
• phí — rising tone

A rough pronunciation guide:

• nhân viên ≈ nyuhn vee-en
• cộng thêm phí ≈ kohng them fee
  (but with Vietnamese tones, especially on cộng and phí)

The hardest part for many English speakers is the tone on cộng, which is not just a simple falling pitch but a heavier, more constricted tone in southern and northern pronunciation patterns.

Not normally. Because of the verb cộng, the sentence strongly suggests that nhân viên are the ones adding the fee.

If you wanted to say employees receive an extra payment or allowance, you would use a different verb, such as:

• được thêm phí
• được cộng thêm tiền
• được phụ cấp thêm

So in your sentence, the most natural reading is that the employees/staff are charging or adding the fee, not receiving it.