Questions & Answers about Hôm qua tôi đã xem bộ phim với Lan.
What does hôm qua mean, and why is it placed at the beginning of the sentence?
hôm qua means “yesterday.” In Vietnamese, time adverbials can appear at the beginning (common) or at the end of the sentence. Placing hôm qua first sets the temporal context right away.
What is the function of đã in tôi đã xem?
đã is an aspect marker indicating that the action is completed (similar to simple past in English). It does not conjugate the verb; it simply shows the action has already happened.
Why is there bộ before phim? Can you say just phim?
Vietnamese uses classifiers between numbers or determiners and nouns. bộ is the classifier for films, books, sets, etc. You can say xem phim informally, but xem bộ phim is more specific/literal (“watch the movie”).
What does xem mean here? Are there other verbs for “watch”?
xem means “to watch” or “to view.” It’s the standard verb for watching films, TV, videos. You wouldn’t use thấy or nhìn for watching a movie because those mean “see” or “look.”
What does với indicate in với Lan? Could you use cùng instead?