Learn Hardcore Vietnamese: Bạn đã nghe bài hát mới chưa?

Bạn literally means “you.” It’s a neutral, polite pronoun used to address someone of roughly the same age or status. It’s neither very formal (like ông/bà) nor overly intimate (like mày).

Why is đã used in Bạn đã nghe…? What does it do?

Đã is a past‐tense marker. It shows that the speaker is asking whether the action (listening) has already taken place. Without đã, the question loses the clear “have you … yet?” sense.

What about chưa at the end of the sentence? How does đã … chưa work together?

In Vietnamese yes/no questions, đã marks the action as past, and chưa asks “not yet?” or “yet?” Putting them together turns the statement “You listened…” into “Have you listened… yet?”
Structure: Subject + đã + Verb + Object + chưa?

Can I drop đã and just say Bạn nghe bài hát mới chưa?? Is that correct?

Yes, you can omit đã in casual speech—Bạn nghe bài hát mới chưa? is understandable. However, the full đã … chưa pairing is more standard for asking “have you … yet?” and sounds clearer.

How would I answer this question in Vietnamese if I have or haven’t listened to the new song?

To say “Yes, I have,” you can reply:
• Rồi. (Already.)
• Đã nghe rồi. (Already listened.)
To say “No, I haven’t,” you can reply:
• Chưa. (Not yet.)
• Chưa nghe. (Haven’t listened.)

What’s the difference between nghe and nghe thấy?

• nghe means “to listen (to something)” intentionally (e.g., music, news).
• nghe thấy means “to hear” in the sense of perceiving sound (e.g., you hear a noise).
Here, since you’re actively listening to a song, nghe is correct.

Why is it bài hát instead of just hát for “song”?

In Vietnamese you use classifiers for many nouns. bài is the classifier for songs, poems, articles, etc. So bài hát literally means “a song‐unit,” just like saying “a song” in English.

What does mới mean in bài hát mới? Could it ever mean “recently”?

Here mới means “new” (the latest song). If you want “recently,” you’d place mới before the verb, as in Bạn mới nghe bài hát đó à? (“Did you just listen to that song?”). But in bài hát mới, it describes the noun: “new song.”

What’s the closest literal translation of this sentence if I want to see the word order?

Literally:
“You – past (đã) – listen (nghe) – song (bài hát) – new (mới) – yet (chưa)?”
→ “Have you listened to the new song yet?”

How can I make this question more formal or polite?

• Replace Bạn with Anh (for a slightly older male) or Chị (for a slightly older female).
• Add the particle ạ at the end for polite emphasis:
Anh/Chị đã nghe bài hát mới chưa ạ?