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Questions & Answers about Tôi luôn giúp bạn khi bạn bận.
Why is luôn placed between Tôi and giúp, instead of at the beginning or end of the sentence?
In Vietnamese, adverbs of frequency like luôn ("always") typically follow the subject and precede the main verb. The usual word order is Subject + Frequency Adverb + Verb. Putting luôn elsewhere would sound unnatural or change the emphasis.
Why is there no preposition or case marker before bạn in giúp bạn? In English, we say “help you,” but we don’t use a preposition either.
Just like the English verb “help,” giúp directly takes an object in Vietnamese. You say giúp bạn (“help you”) with no extra word. Colloquially, some speakers add cho (“giúp cho bạn”) for emphasis or a softer tone, but it’s optional.
Why do we repeat bạn twice? The sentence has giúp bạn and then khi bạn bận.
The first bạn is the object of giúp (“I help you”). The second bạn is the subject of the subordinate clause khi bạn bận (“when you are busy”). Vietnamese normally repeats the pronoun in each clause to keep the roles clear; omitting the second bạn could make the sentence ambiguous.
What does bận mean, and why isn’t there a verb like “to be” before it?
bận means “busy.” Vietnamese does not use a copula (“to be”) before adjectives in predicate position. So bạn bận literally reads “you busy,” which is the standard way to say “you are busy.”
Could I move the khi clause to the front and still be correct?
Yes. Subordinate clauses with khi (“when”) can come before or after the main clause. If you start with it, you’d say:
“Khi bạn bận, tôi luôn giúp bạn.”
The meaning stays the same; it’s just a different emphasis or style.
Why isn’t there a word for tense (past, present, future) in this sentence?
Vietnamese verbs don’t conjugate for tense. Time is inferred from context or added time words. Here, luôn implies a habitual, present-tense action. To mark the past you might insert đã (“already”), and for the future sẽ (“will”):
- Past (habitual): “Tôi đã luôn giúp bạn khi bạn bận.”
- Future (habitual): “Tôi sẽ luôn giúp bạn khi bạn bận.”
What’s the difference between luôn, luôn luôn, and thường?
- luôn = “always” (common)
- luôn luôn = “always” (more emphatic or colloquial, literally “always always”)
- thường = “usually” or “often” (less than 100% of the time)
Can I drop the subject pronoun Tôi and just say “Luôn giúp bạn khi bạn bận”?
Yes. Vietnamese often omits pronouns when context is clear. “Luôn giúp bạn khi bạn bận” is grammatical and understood as “I always help you when you’re busy,” though adding Tôi makes the subject explicit, which can sound more formal or clear in writing.
If I’m speaking to someone older or in a formal context, can I still use bạn?
bạn is neutral and most suitable for peers or younger people. When addressing an older person or in formal settings, you choose a different pronoun—anh, chị, ông, bà, etc.—to show respect and match the social relationship.
Why don’t we need the word thì in “khi bạn bận”? I’ve seen sentences like “Khi bạn bận thì tôi giúp.”
In Vietnamese, thì is often optional in conditional/time clauses. You can say either:
- “Khi bạn bận thì tôi luôn giúp bạn.”
- “Khi bạn bận, tôi luôn giúp bạn.”
Dropping thì is very common, especially in spoken or informal Vietnamese.