Learn Hardcore Vietnamese: Vé ở rạp chiếu phim đắt hơn vé xe buýt. - Tickets at the cinema are more expensive than bus tickets.

In Vietnamese, ở is a preposition that means “at” or “in.” Placing ở before rạp chiếu phim specifies the location related to the ticket—i.e. it’s the ticket you buy or use at the movie theater.

Why is there no verb like là in Vé ở rạp chiếu phim đắt hơn vé xe buýt?

Vietnamese comparatives typically omit copula verbs like là. You directly place the adjective đắt hơn after the noun. Adding là here would sound redundant or awkward.

How does the comparative đắt hơn work?

đắt means “expensive.”
hơn is the comparative marker “more.”
Together, đắt hơn literally means “more expensive.” The pattern is A đắt hơn B (“A is more expensive than B”).

Why is it vé xe buýt instead of vé đi xe buýt or vé của xe buýt?

vé xe buýt is a concise noun–noun compound meaning “bus ticket.”
vé đi xe buýt (“ticket to ride the bus”) is grammatically fine but more wordy.
vé của xe buýt (“ticket belonging to the bus”) sounds odd, because tickets don’t “belong” to buses—they’re used to board them.

Why is there no classifier or number before vé?

When making a general statement about a category (e.g. “movie tickets in general”), Vietnamese often omits classifiers and numerals. You only add something like một vé (“one ticket”) when you need to specify quantity.

Could this sentence be reversed using rẻ hơn?

Yes. You can flip the comparison to focus on the bus ticket. For example:
Vé xe buýt rẻ hơn vé ở rạp chiếu phim.
It still means “Bus tickets are cheaper than movie-theater tickets.”

What does rạp chiếu phim literally mean?

Broken down:

rạp: hall or theater
chiếu: to screen or project
phim: film or movie
So rạp chiếu phim literally means “film screening hall,” i.e. a cinema.

How can I intensify or emphasize the price difference?

You can add adverbs:

nhiều (“much”): đắt hơn nhiều (“much more expensive”)
rất (“very”): rất đắt (“very expensive”)
Example: Vé ở rạp chiếu phim đắt hơn vé xe buýt rất nhiều.