Learn Hardcore Vietnamese: Gia đình tôi đã rất vui khi gặp bạn.

Đã is an aspect marker that indicates the action or state is completed or occurred in the past. Vietnamese verbs and adjectives aren’t inflected for tense the way English verbs are, so you place đã before the main verb or adjective to show past time. Without đã, the sentence could be understood as a general or present-tense statement.

What does rất mean, and why is it placed before vui?

Rất means “very” and is an intensifier. In Vietnamese, intensifiers like rất always precede the adjective or adverb they modify. So rất vui literally translates to “very happy.” It would be ungrammatical to say vui rất.

What is the function of khi in khi gặp bạn?

Khi is a conjunction meaning “when.” It introduces a time clause that describes when something happened. In khi gặp bạn, it means “when (we) met you.” You could also use lúc in many contexts, but khi is more general and slightly more formal, whereas lúc can sound more conversational or refer to a specific moment.

Why is gặp used instead of thấy?

Gặp means “to meet” or “to encounter,” emphasizing the event of meeting someone (often in person for the first time or by arrangement). Thấy simply means “to see,” focusing on the visual act rather than the social act of meeting. Since the sentence expresses happiness about the encounter, gặp is the correct verb.

In Gia đình tôi, why does tôi come after gia đình?

Vietnamese uses a possessive structure where the possessed noun comes first and the possessor follows, often linked by an implicit của (“of”). Thus gia đình tôi literally means “family of me,” i.e. “my family.” The word của is usually omitted in everyday speech.

Can we omit đã and still express past tense here?

Yes. Vietnamese speakers often drop đã when the context makes the time clear. Gia đình tôi rất vui khi gặp bạn still conveys past meaning if you’re narrating an event. Using đã simply adds explicit emphasis on the fact that it already happened.

Could we say Gia đình tôi rất vui được gặp bạn? What does được add?

Yes. Adding được before a verb conveys the idea of being granted or given the opportunity to do something. Rất vui được gặp bạn feels more polite and emphasizes gratitude for having had the chance to meet you. It’s often used in formal or courteous contexts.

Is bạn always the right pronoun for “you” here? Could we use anh, chị, or another form?

Bạn is a neutral, friendly way to say “you” when you want to be polite without specifying age or gender. If you need to indicate respect or the person’s relative age, you can use anh (for an older male), chị (for an older female), or even ông/bà (for elders). Simply replace bạn: for example, khi gặp anh, khi gặp chị, etc.

How do you pronounce đã, and what tone does it have?

Đã is pronounced [ɗà], where đ sounds like the English “d” in “dog,” and the accent mark (`̀) on à indicates the huyền (falling) tone. This gives đã a low-falling pitch.