Trong văn phòng, chúng tôi thường nói chuyện bằng điện thoại khi đang họp.

In the office, we often talk on the phone while we are having a meeting.

Breakdown of Trong văn phòng, chúng tôi thường nói chuyện bằng điện thoại khi đang họp.

• đang: currently
• thường: often
• chúng tôi: we
• trong: in
• nói chuyện: to talk
• khi: while
• bằng: by
• văn phòng: the office
• điện thoại: the telephone
• họp: to have a meeting

Questions & Answers about Trong văn phòng, chúng tôi thường nói chuyện bằng điện thoại khi đang họp.

What does trong mean here, and how is trong văn phòng different from ở văn phòng?

trong literally means in / inside.
So trong văn phòng = in the office / inside the office (as a space).

ở is more general and just means at / in (a place).

• trong văn phòng emphasizes being inside the room/office space.
• ở văn phòng is more neutral: at the office (could be inside, more about location in general).

In this sentence, you could say either:

• Trong văn phòng, chúng tôi thường nói chuyện…
• Ở văn phòng, chúng tôi thường nói chuyện…

Both are grammatical; trong just makes you imagine more the physical interior of the office.

Why is there no word for the in văn phòng? In English we say “in the office”.

Vietnamese doesn’t use articles like a / an / the.

• văn phòng by itself can mean:
  • an office
  • the office
  • offices (in general)

The specific meaning is understood from context. Here, trong văn phòng is naturally understood as in the office (the office where “we” work), even though there’s no separate word for the.

Why does the sentence start with Trong văn phòng? Could I put it later, like in English?

Vietnamese often puts time/place information at the beginning of the sentence to set the scene:

• Trong văn phòng, chúng tôi thường nói chuyện…
  (In the office, we often talk…)

You can move it:

• Chúng tôi thường nói chuyện bằng điện thoại khi đang họp trong văn phòng.

This is still grammatical, but:

• Starting with Trong văn phòng highlights the setting (what happens in the office).
• Putting it at the end makes it feel more like an extra detail.

Both are acceptable; the original order is very natural and common in Vietnamese.

Why is chúng tôi used here? How is it different from chúng ta or bọn tôi?

All three can translate as we, but they’re used differently:

• chúng tôi: we (not including the listener)
  Used when you are not including the person you’re talking to.
• chúng ta: we (including the listener)
  Used when you are including the listener (“you and I / you all and I”).
• bọn tôi: more casual/colloquial we (not including the listener), like “us guys / our group”.

In this sentence:

• chúng tôi implies we in our office (excluding the person you’re talking to).
• If you and the listener are coworkers in the same office, you might say chúng ta in a more inclusive way:
  • Trong văn phòng, chúng ta thường nói chuyện… = In our office, we (you and I) often talk…

What exactly does thường do here, and where should it go in the sentence?

thường means often / usually and works like a frequency adverb.

In Vietnamese, it normally goes before the main verb phrase:

• chúng tôi thường nói chuyện…
  = we often talk…

Other common positions:

• Trong văn phòng, chúng tôi thường nói chuyện…
• Chúng tôi thường nói chuyện bằng điện thoại…

Putting thường after the verb, like:

• chúng tôi nói chuyện thường bằng điện thoại

sounds unnatural. So: place thường before the verb (nói chuyện).

Why do we say nói chuyện bằng điện thoại instead of just nói or gọi điện thoại?

Nuances:

• nói = to speak / to talk (focus on speaking)
• nói chuyện = to chat / to talk (have a conversation)
  Slightly more conversational; common in everyday speech.
• gọi điện thoại = to make a phone call (focus on the act of calling)

nói chuyện bằng điện thoại literally = to have a conversation by phone / talk via phone.

So:

• gọi điện thoại = you place the call (action of calling).
• nói chuyện bằng điện thoại = you are having a conversation on the phone (how the talking happens).

The sentence emphasizes how the talking happens during meetings: we often have our conversations by phone.

What is the role of bằng in bằng điện thoại?

bằng here means by / with / using and introduces the means or instrument used to do something.

So:

• nói chuyện bằng điện thoại = talk by phone / talk using the phone.
• Other examples:
  • đi bằng xe buýt = go by bus
  • viết bằng bút chì = write with a pencil

So bằng is the word that links the action to the “tool” used to perform it.

Could we say nói chuyện qua điện thoại instead of bằng điện thoại? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say both:

• nói chuyện bằng điện thoại
• nói chuyện qua điện thoại

Both are natural. The nuance:

• bằng = using / by means of (emphasizes the tool/instrument).
• qua = through / via (emphasizes the medium or channel).

In everyday speech, people use them quite interchangeably in this context. For most learners, you can treat them as synonyms here.

How do we know this sentence is about a habitual action (we often do this), when there is no tense marker like “do / did / will”?

Vietnamese doesn’t have tense in the same way English does. Instead, it uses:

• time expressions: hôm qua (yesterday), mai (tomorrow)
• aspect / frequency words: đã, đang, sẽ, thường, hay, etc.

In this sentence:

• thường = often / usually
  → This clearly marks a habitual, repeated action.

So the sentence is naturally understood as present habitual:

• In the office, we often talk on the phone during meetings.

There is no need for a separate tense marker like do / did / will; context and thường are enough.

What does khi đang họp mean exactly, and how is it different from just khi họp?

Breakdown:

• khi = when / while
• đang = marker for an ongoing action (similar to English “be V‑ing”)
• họp = to have a meeting / to meet (formally)

So:

• khi đang họp ≈ while (we are) in a meeting / while we’re meeting
• khi họp ≈ when we have meetings / when meeting

Nuance:

• khi đang họp emphasizes that the action is happening right in the middle of the meeting (during its ongoing process).
• khi họp is more general: it can mean “on occasions when we have meetings”.

Both are grammatically fine; đang makes the “during” sense stronger and more vivid.

Why is there no subject before đang họp? Why not khi chúng tôi đang họp?

In Vietnamese, if two clauses share the same subject, the subject is often omitted in the second clause to avoid repetition, especially when the meaning is clear.

• First clause: chúng tôi thường nói chuyện bằng điện thoại
• Second (time) clause: khi (chúng tôi) đang họp

Because it’s obvious that the same we is the one having the meeting, you can drop chúng tôi:

• khi đang họp = (when we are) having a meeting

You can say khi chúng tôi đang họp; it’s correct and a bit more explicit, but also slightly heavier. The shorter version is very natural in spoken and written Vietnamese.

Could we drop đang and just say khi họp? Does it sound wrong?

You can absolutely say:

• Trong văn phòng, chúng tôi thường nói chuyện bằng điện thoại khi họp.

It’s still correct. The nuance:

• khi họp: when we have meetings / on occasions when we meet
• khi đang họp: while we’re actually in the middle of a meeting

So:

• Dropping đang makes it a bit more general.
• Keeping đang highlights simultaneity: the talking on the phone happens during the ongoing meeting, not just “on days when we have meetings”.

Is the comma after Trong văn phòng required? How does it affect the sentence?

The comma after Trong văn phòng is:

• Optional in casual writing
• Recommended in more careful/standard writing

It marks Trong văn phòng as a separate introductory phrase (setting):

• Trong văn phòng, chúng tôi thường nói chuyện…

Without the comma:

• Trong văn phòng chúng tôi thường nói chuyện…

It’s still readable and grammatically fine, but slightly harder to parse at a glance. The comma mainly helps clarity and matches common writing conventions.