Questions & Answers about Tôi thích đọc sách ở đó.
Why is ở đó placed at the end of the sentence instead of right after thích?
Vietnamese follows a basic Subject–Verb–Object–Adverbial order. In “Tôi thích đọc sách ở đó”:
- Tôi = subject (I)
- thích = verb (like)
- đọc sách = verb-object phrase (read books)
- ở đó = adverbial of location (there)
Putting ở đó at the end marks where the action happens. Moving it immediately after thích (e.g. “Tôi thích ở đó đọc sách”) would sound unnatural in standard Vietnamese.
What is the function of ở in ở đó?
Ở is the preposition “at” or “in” when introducing a location. Paired with đó (“there”), ở đó literally means “at that place,” i.e. “there.”
How do you express “like to read books” in Vietnamese without using an equivalent of English “to”?
Vietnamese has no infinitive marker like English to. You simply place thích (“to like”) directly before another verb or verb-object phrase:
- thích đọc = “like reading”
- thích đọc sách = “like reading books”
Hence “I like reading books” is Tôi thích đọc sách.
Could I omit sách and say Tôi thích đọc ở đó?