Learn Hardcore Vietnamese: Tuần sau, Lan sẽ mở cửa hàng mới.

In Vietnamese you can move time expressions like Tuần sau (“next week”) to the front to emphasize when something happens. The default position for time phrases is either at the start or right before the verb, so both Lan sẽ mở cửa hàng mới tuần sau and Tuần sau, Lan sẽ mở cửa hàng mới are correct, but fronting it gives it extra prominence.

What does the word sẽ do in this sentence?

Sẽ is the future-tense marker in Vietnamese. It indicates that the action (opening a new store) will take place in the future. Without sẽ, the sentence could still imply future time if you have a clear time phrase, but adding sẽ makes it explicit.

Why isn’t there an article like “a” or “the” before cửa hàng mới?

Vietnamese doesn’t use articles like “a” or “the.” Instead, classifiers and context do that job. Here you could optionally add the classifier một (“a”) to get mở một cửa hàng mới, but omitting một still clearly means “open a new store.”

Why is mới placed after cửa hàng and not before?

In Vietnamese noun phrases, adjectives (including mới meaning “new”) almost always follow the noun they modify. So cửa hàng mới literally reads “store new.”

Could you drop sẽ and still mean the same thing?

Yes, especially in spoken language, you might say Tuần sau Lan mở cửa hàng mới and the time phrase Tuần sau makes it clear you’re talking about the future. However, including sẽ is more formal or explicit.

Is Tuần sau different from Tuần tới?

Not really. Tuần sau and Tuần tới both mean “next week.” Tuần tới is a bit more common in the north of Vietnam, while Tuần sau is widely understood everywhere.

Can I say Lan sẽ mở cửa hàng mới vào tuần sau?

Yes. Adding vào before a time phrase is optional: Lan sẽ mở cửa hàng mới vào tuần sau is perfectly natural and slightly more formal.