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Questions & Answers about Bữa trưa hôm nay rất ngon.
What does bữa trưa literally mean in English?
bữa means “meal” and trưa means “midday; lunch.” So together bữa trưa refers specifically to “lunch (the meal).”
What’s the difference between bữa trưa and buổi trưa?
bữa trưa denotes the actual meal (lunch), whereas buổi trưa denotes the time period around midday. You use bữa trưa when talking about eating (“I had a delicious lunch”) and buổi trưa when talking about time or activities at lunchtime (“At midday, I study”).
Why is there no verb like “is” in Bữa trưa hôm nay rất ngon?
Vietnamese often uses a verbless or “zero-copula” structure for states or qualities. The sentence literally reads “Lunch today very delicious,” and the linking verb “to be” (là) is simply omitted but understood.
Why does the adjective ngon come after bữa trưa hôm nay instead of before it?
In Vietnamese, descriptive adjectives normally follow the noun they modify. So you say bữa trưa ngon (“lunch delicious”), not ngon bữa trưa.
What role does rất play in the sentence?
rất is an adverb meaning “very.” It intensifies the adjective ngon, so rất ngon means “very delicious.”
How is the time expression hôm nay (“today”) used, and can it move to the front?
hôm nay sets the time frame. While it often follows the subject (lunch), you can also front it for emphasis:
Hôm nay bữa trưa rất ngon.
Both word orders are natural.
How does Vietnamese express “tense” here without past or present markers?
Tense in Vietnamese relies on context and time adverbs like hôm nay (“today”). There’s no past/present/future conjugation on verbs or adjectives; the time word signals when the action or state occurs.
Could ngon function as a verb in this sentence?
Yes. Many Vietnamese adjectives can function like intransitive verbs in predicative positions. Here ngon behaves as “to be delicious,” so Bữa trưa… ngon conveys “Lunch … is delicious.”