Ông ấy đang làm việc ở bệnh viện.

He is working at the hospital.

Breakdown of Ông ấy đang làm việc ở bệnh viện.

• làm việc: to work
• đang: currently
• ở: at
• bệnh viện: the hospital
• ông ấy: he

Questions & Answers about Ông ấy đang làm việc ở bệnh viện.

What is the function of đang in this sentence?

đang is the progressive aspect marker in Vietnamese. It indicates that the action is ongoing at the moment of speaking, much like “is …ing” in English (e.g., “He is working…”).

Can we omit đang, and how does that change the meaning?

Yes. If you say Ông ấy làm việc ở bệnh viện, you remove the progressive meaning and get a simple present or habitual sense: “He works at the hospital” (i.e., that is his job in general), rather than emphasizing it’s happening right now.

Why is làm việc used instead of just làm?

làm by itself means “to do” or “to make,” so it’s incomplete—làm what? làm việc is the full verb phrase “to work,” specifying the action clearly.

Why do we use ở before bệnh viện? Could we use tại instead?

Both ở and tại can mean “at”/“in.”

• ở is more conversational.
• tại feels slightly more formal or official.
  So ở bệnh viện is the natural spoken form, whereas tại bệnh viện might appear in written reports or formal announcements.

What does bệnh viện literally mean, and is it a compound word?

Yes, bệnh viện is a compound noun:

• bệnh = “illness/disease”
• viện = “institution/establishment”
  Together, they literally form “illness institution,” i.e., “hospital.”

What is the difference between ông, ông ấy, and simply using ông as a form of address?

• ông alone can be a title (“Mr.”) or a way to address an older man (“Sir”).
• ông ấy adds ấy (a deictic pronoun marker), turning ông into “that man,” i.e., the third‐person pronoun “he.”
  Without ấy, ông by itself wouldn’t clearly function as “he.”

Could we replace ông ấy with anh ấy or cô ấy?

Yes—but it changes who you refer to:

• anh ấy = “he” for a younger or same‐age man (informal).
• cô ấy = “she” for a younger or same‐age woman.
  Use ông ấy specifically for an older or more respected male.

How do you pronounce Ông ấy đang làm việc ở bệnh viện with the correct tones?

Observe each syllable’s tone mark as written:

• Ông (grave tone – falling)
• ấy (hook tone – dipping–rising)
• đang (acute tone – rising)
• làm (grave tone – falling)
• việc (grave tone – falling)
• ở (hook tone – dipping–rising)
• bệnh (acute tone – rising)
• viện (dot tone – heavy falling)
  Link them smoothly in one phrase, paying attention to the tone of each syllable.