Learn Hardcore Vietnamese: Chiều nay, chúng tôi sẽ uống trà cùng bạn. - This afternoon, we will drink tea with you.

sẽ is a particle that marks the future tense in Vietnamese, similar to “will” in English. Because Vietnamese verbs don’t conjugate for tense, we add sẽ before the verb to show that the action is going to happen later.

Why is Chiều nay placed at the beginning of the sentence, and why is there a comma after it?

Time expressions like Chiều nay (“this afternoon”) typically come at the start of a Vietnamese sentence to set the time frame, just as “This afternoon,” does in English. The comma helps separate the time phrase from the main clause. In casual speech you might drop the comma, but in writing it clarifies the structure.

What’s the difference between chúng tôi and chúng ta?

chúng tôi means “we/us” excluding the person you’re talking to. chúng ta means “we/us” including the listener. Here the speaker uses chúng tôi (“we” without you) because they’re describing their own group and then inviting bạn (“you”) separately to join.

Why is it uống trà instead of ăn trà or đi uống trà?

In Vietnamese, uống is used for drinking liquids (tea, coffee, water, etc.), while ăn is for eating solids. So “drink tea” is always uống trà. You could say đi uống trà (“go drink tea”) if you want to emphasize going out to a tea shop, but it’s not required here.

What does cùng bạn mean, and can I say với bạn instead?

Both cùng and với mean “with,” but they have a slight nuance. cùng emphasizes doing something together as a group—it highlights the shared activity. với is more neutral. So uống trà cùng bạn stresses the communal aspect; uống trà với bạn is perfectly fine and more colloquial.

Is bạn here singular or plural? How do I say “with all of you” or “with my friends”?

Here bạn is singular—one friend. To address multiple people you say các bạn: uống trà cùng các bạn (“have tea with all of you”). For “with my friends” you’d say uống trà cùng bạn bè của tôi.

Can I drop sẽ and still convey the future meaning?

Yes. When there’s a clear time marker like chiều nay, you can omit sẽ and the sentence still means future:
Chiều nay, chúng tôi uống trà cùng bạn.
The context provided by “this afternoon” makes it obvious you’re talking about a future plan.