Chúng tôi rất vui khi bán cà phê ở cửa hàng.

to be

Breakdown of Chúng tôi rất vui khi bán cà phê ở cửa hàng.

• rất: very
• vui: happy
• cà phê: the coffee
• ở: at
• bán: to sell
• cửa hàng: the store
• chúng tôi: we
• khi: when

Questions & Answers about Chúng tôi rất vui khi bán cà phê ở cửa hàng.

How is the phrase chúng tôi typically used compared to other Vietnamese pronouns?

Chúng tôi means we/us but implicitly excludes the listener, unlike chúng ta, which includes both the speaker and the listener. In a shop context, using chúng tôi is common when referring to the staff or owners as a group.

Why is rất vui followed by khi here?

In Vietnamese, rất vui is often followed by khi (meaning when), được (meaning to have the opportunity to), or similar connecting words. It links the feeling of happiness (rất vui) with the action/event that causes it (here, bán cà phê ở cửa hàng). It’s similar to saying We are very happy when (we) sell coffee at the store in English.

What does khi mean in this sentence, and can I use another word instead?

Here, khi translates most closely to when. It indicates the time or circumstance causing the happiness. You could replace khi with được (e.g., Chúng tôi rất vui được bán cà phê ở cửa hàng) which implies We are very happy to be able to sell coffee at the store, but that slightly shifts the nuance to a sense of privilege+opportunity.

Is the word ở here optional, or do we always need it?

Ở is a common preposition that means at/in. Omitting it can make your sentence less natural. If you dropped ở, the sentence might still be understood, but it sounds more casual and slightly incomplete because it lacks the clear prepositional link to the location cửa hàng.

Can I use chúng tôi bán cà phê ở cửa hàng without rất vui or khi and still make sense?

Yes, Chúng tôi bán cà phê ở cửa hàng would mean simply We sell coffee at the store, which is still a correct statement. Removing rất vui or khi just removes the emotional or temporal context. It won’t change the basic meaning about selling coffee but loses the detail that we are happy doing so.

What’s the difference between khi bán cà phê ở cửa hàng and trong khi bán cà phê ở cửa hàng?

• khi bán cà phê ở cửa hàng focuses on when (we) sell coffee at the store, highlighting the action causing the happiness.
• trong khi bán cà phê ở cửa hàng literally means during the time (we) sell coffee at the store, emphasizing a timespan or concurrency. The two can overlap in meaning, but khi is more direct to mention the time or condition, while trong khi can imply a continuous process.