Tôi mua sách ở siêu thị mới.

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Breakdown of Tôi mua sách ở siêu thị mới.

• ở: at
• mua: to buy
• sách: the book
• siêu thị: the supermarket
• mới: new

Questions & Answers about Tôi mua sách ở siêu thị mới.

Why is tôi used instead of other pronouns?

Tôi is the most common way to say “I” in Vietnamese. It’s a polite, neutral pronoun that can be used in formal and informal situations. There are other pronouns that can also mean “I,” but they often depend on age, gender, social context, or your relationship with the listener.

What does mua mean, and is it a different form depending on tense?

Mua means “to buy.” In Vietnamese, verbs do not change form to indicate tense. Instead, context or additional words (like đã for past or sẽ for future) show time. So mua remains the same whether you mean “buy,” “bought,” or “will buy,” unless you add those markers.

Why is there no article or classifier before sách?

Vietnamese doesn’t use definite or indefinite articles like English does. A classifier like quyển or cuốn (“volume”) can be used before sách (book) to be more specific, but it’s not always necessary. In casual everyday speech, leaving out the classifier is quite common.

Does sách here mean one book or multiple books?

Because Vietnamese nouns don’t indicate singular or plural by default, sách could mean “book” or “books.” If you need to be precise, you might say một quyển sách (“one book”) or nhiều quyển sách (“many books”).

What is the function of ở in ở siêu thị mới?

Ở indicates location and is often translated as “at,” “in,” or “on.” Here, ở siêu thị mới means “at the new supermarket,” specifying where the buying takes place.

Is mới describing the supermarket or the act of buying something new?

Mới is an adjective modifying siêu thị to show it’s a “new supermarket.” If you wanted to say you’re buying new books, you’d place mới after sách, such as tôi mua sách mới.

Can I use tại instead of ở here?

Yes, you can say tôi mua sách tại siêu thị mới, and it’s still understood as “I buy books at the new supermarket.” Tại and ở are often interchangeable when indicating a location. Tại can sound slightly more formal or written.