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Questions & Answers about Chợ ở xa nhà tôi.
What is the word order and basic structure of Chợ ở xa nhà tôi?
The sentence follows the Subject–Verb–Adverbial–Object pattern:
• Chợ (Subject)
• ở (Verb/locative marker)
• xa (Adjective/adverb indicating “far”)
• nhà tôi (Object/possessive phrase “my house”)
So literally: “Market is far my house.”
What exactly does ở do in this sentence?
ở is a locative preposition meaning “at/in,” but when combined with an adjective like xa it expresses “be [adjective] away from.” In ở xa, it means “to be far away.”
Can I omit ở and just say Chợ xa nhà tôi?
Yes, in casual speech you’ll often hear Chợ xa nhà tôi and it’s still understood as “The market is far from my house.” Adding ở makes the locative relationship explicit and is more standard.
What does xa mean, and can it stand alone?
xa is an adjective meaning “far.” Alone, xa can modify a noun (“a far place”: nơi xa) or be used predicatively with or without ở. But to talk about “being far from” something, you typically see ở xa or cách ... xa.
How is possession indicated in nhà tôi? Why isn’t it tôi nhà?
Vietnamese uses the pattern Noun + Possessor, so nhà tôi literally means “house of me” = “my house.” You cannot flip it—tôi nhà would be ungrammatical here.
What’s the difference between Chợ ở xa nhà tôi and using cách, as in Chợ cách nhà tôi 3 km?
• ở xa expresses a general sense of “being far.”
• cách introduces a specific distance measure. You need a number or descriptor after it (e.g. 3 km) to complete the phrase.
So Chợ ở xa nhà tôi = “The market is far from my house,” whereas Chợ cách nhà tôi 3 km = “The market is 3 km from my house.”
Do I need a classifier with chợ, like một cái chợ?
When you’re simply naming the place (“The market is far…”), no classifier is needed. If you wanted to specify “one market,” you could say một cái chợ, but it’s optional in this context.
Could I flip the sentence to Nhà tôi xa chợ? Would it still be correct?
Yes. Nhà tôi xa chợ (“My house is far from the market”) is grammatically correct and means essentially the same thing, though it shifts the emphasis slightly to your house rather than to the market.