Learn Hardcore Vietnamese: Em đã nghe cha nói về công việc mới chưa? - Have you heard father talk about the new job yet?

In Vietnamese, em is a second-person pronoun used when addressing someone younger or of lower status (e.g. a younger sibling or junior colleague). It’s more intimate than bạn (the neutral “you”) and indicates a specific age/hierarchy relationship.

Why do we have both đã and chưa in the same question?

Vietnamese uses the perfect marker đã plus the question particle chưa to form “Have you … yet?”

đã indicates the action is viewed as complete.
chưa turns it into a yes/no question: “Have you … yet?”

If you drop đã, you simply ask “Did you hear …?” without the “yet.”

What exactly does nghe cha nói về mean? Is it a passive structure?

Literally, nghe cha nói về = “hear father speak about.” It’s not passive in Vietnamese; it’s a sequence of verbs:

nghe (to hear)
cha nói (father speaking)
về (about)

You hear the act of your father talking about something.

Could we say nghe được cha nói về instead?

You can add được to emphasize successful reception: Em đã nghe được cha nói về công việc mới chưa?
But it’s more wordy. Native speakers usually omit được when the focus is simply on “hearing.”

Why is công việc mới used instead of just việc mới?

Both việc and công việc mean “job/work,” but:

việc alone is more general (“task,” “matter”).
công việc is the formal term for “job” or “occupation.”

Here, công việc mới specifically means “new job.”

Could I replace cha with bố or ba?

Yes. cha is slightly more formal or literary. bố or ba are common in everyday speech. All mean “father,” but choice depends on region, formality, and family preference:

cha: formal, Southern, written
bố: standard spoken
ba: colloquial, Northern

What’s the difference between nói về and kể về in this context?

nói về = “talk about,” neutral.
kể về = “tell/recount about,” more narrative or detailed story.

If your father just mentioned a few facts, you’d use nói về. If he shared a full story, kể về might fit better.