Learn Hardcore Vietnamese: Khi du lịch, chúng tôi thường ở khách sạn nhỏ trong thành phố. - When traveling, we usually stay in a small hotel in the city.

Khi du lịch literally means “when (we) travel”. In Vietnamese, if the subject is clear from context (here it’s chúng tôi later in the sentence), it’s very common to omit it after a time word like khi.

You can also say:

Khi chúng tôi du lịch, chúng tôi thường ở…
Khi đi du lịch, chúng tôi thường ở…

They’re all grammatical.
Nuances:

Khi du lịch – concise, neutral.
Khi chúng tôi du lịch – explicitly emphasizes we as the ones traveling.
Khi đi du lịch – very common in everyday speech; đi du lịch = “go traveling, go on a trip.”

Is du lịch a verb or a noun here? How should I think about it?

In this sentence, du lịch is a verb phrase meaning “to travel” / “to go traveling.”

Vietnamese often uses the same form as both verb and noun, depending on context:

Verb: Tôi thích du lịch. – I like traveling.
Noun: Du lịch rất phát triển ở đây. – Tourism is very developed here.

Here, after khi, it functions like an action: khi du lịch ≈ “when (we) are traveling.”

Where should I put thường in the sentence? Can it go in other positions?

In this sentence, thường (usually) is correctly placed before the main verb:
chúng tôi thường ở khách sạn nhỏ…

Some typical placements:

Before the main verb:
- Chúng tôi thường ở khách sạn nhỏ. ✔️ (most natural)
After the subject + time phrase:
- Khi du lịch, chúng tôi thường ở… ✔️
At the very start for emphasis:
- Thường, khi du lịch, chúng tôi ở khách sạn nhỏ. ✔️ but more “stylistic,” slightly more formal or written.

You wouldn’t normally put thường after ở (e.g. ở thường khách sạn ✖️) – that’s ungrammatical.

What exactly does ở mean here, and why not sống or nghỉ?

Here ở means “stay / stay at / stay in” (temporarily or permanently, depending on context):

ở khách sạn – stay at a hotel
ở Hà Nội – live/stay in Hanoi

Other verbs:

sống = to live (long-term, life situation)
- Tôi sống ở Hà Nội. – I live in Hanoi. (not about a short stay in a hotel)
nghỉ = to rest, take a break; nghỉ ở khách sạn can mean “stay (for rest) at a hotel,” but it often focuses on the resting aspect, not just lodging.

For “we usually stay in small hotels,” ở khách sạn is the most natural and neutral choice.

Why is it khách sạn nhỏ and not nhỏ khách sạn? Where do adjectives go?

In Vietnamese, adjectives normally come after the noun:

khách sạn nhỏ – small hotel
thành phố lớn – big city
người cao – tall person

So nhỏ khách sạn sounds wrong.
Word order here is:

khách sạn (noun) + nhỏ (adjective)

The English meaning is “small hotels” (plural). Why doesn’t Vietnamese mark plural on khách sạn nhỏ?

Vietnamese usually does not mark plural on nouns unless there’s a reason to emphasize number. Khách sạn nhỏ can mean:

“a small hotel”
“small hotels”
depending on context.

If you want to explicitly show plurality, you can add:

những khách sạn nhỏ – small hotels (a general/specific set)
các khách sạn nhỏ – small hotels (often more formal, “the hotels” as a group)

In this sentence, the habitual context (chúng tôi thường ở…) already implies “we usually stay in small hotels,” so leaving it as khách sạn nhỏ is natural.

What does trong thành phố add? How is that different from just ở khách sạn nhỏ?

Trong thành phố means “in the city” / “inside the city area.”
So:

ở khách sạn nhỏ – stay in small hotels (no location specified)
ở khách sạn nhỏ trong thành phố – stay in small hotels that are in the city (not in the suburbs/countryside)

It adds a location detail and subtly contrasts with options like ngoài thành phố (outside the city) or ở ngoại ô (in the suburbs).

Could I say ở trong thành phố instead of trong thành phố? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

Khi du lịch, chúng tôi thường ở khách sạn nhỏ ở trong thành phố.

The difference is small:

trong thành phố – acts like a phrase modifying khách sạn nhỏ: “small hotels in the city.”
ở trong thành phố – repeats the verb ở and focuses more on being located in the city; it sounds slightly heavier, more explicit.

In everyday speech, people often keep it simple as in your original sentence: one ở is enough, and trong thành phố just tells you where the hotels are.

What’s the difference between chúng tôi and chúng ta here?

Both mean “we,” but:

chúng tôi = we (not including the listener)
chúng ta = we (including the listener)

In this sentence:

Khi du lịch, chúng tôi thường ở… – implies “we (our group), not necessarily you, the person I’m talking to.”
Khi du lịch, chúng ta thường ở… – implies “you and I (and maybe others) usually stay…”

So chúng tôi is correct if the listener is not part of that travel group.

Could I drop chúng tôi in this sentence? Would it still be natural?

Yes, in the right context you can omit chúng tôi:

Khi du lịch, thường ở khách sạn nhỏ trong thành phố.

If it’s already clear from previous sentences who you’re talking about, this is natural, especially in casual speech or writing.

However, if this is a standalone sentence with no context, chúng tôi is helpful for clarity and feels more complete.

What is the typical word order of this whole sentence in Vietnamese? How does it compare to English?

The sentence:

Khi du lịch, chúng tôi thường ở khách sạn nhỏ trong thành phố.

Rough structure:

Khi du lịch – time clause (“when traveling”)
chúng tôi – subject (“we”)
thường – frequency adverb (“usually”)
ở – main verb (“stay”)
khách sạn nhỏ – object / place (“small hotels”)
trong thành phố – location detail (“in the city”)

Compare to English:
“When traveling, we usually stay in small hotels in the city.”

The order is actually quite parallel to English here: time → subject → frequency → verb → place details.

Can I use lúc instead of khi, like Lúc du lịch? Is there any difference?

You can say:

Lúc du lịch, chúng tôi thường ở khách sạn nhỏ trong thành phố.

Lúc and khi often overlap and both mean “when” in time clauses. Subtle tendencies:

khi – a bit more neutral and “grammatical,” very common in both spoken and written language.
lúc – slightly more colloquial and concrete, often used with specific times:
- lúc đó – at that time
- lúc 8 giờ – at 8 o’clock

In your sentence, khi du lịch is slightly more standard/neutral, but lúc du lịch is still acceptable and understandable.