Learn Hardcore Vietnamese: Buổi chiều, tôi thường ở trong vườn với hoa và không làm việc. - In the afternoon, I usually stay in the garden with the flowers and do not work.

Putting Buổi chiều (literally “afternoon time”) at the beginning sets the time frame for the whole sentence. Vietnamese often puts time expressions at the very start:

Buổi chiều, tôi thường… = In the afternoon, I usually…

The comma reflects a natural pause in speech and is common in writing when the time phrase is used as a kind of “sentence topic.” Grammatically, you could write it without a comma:

Buổi chiều tôi thường ở trong vườn…

Both are correct; the version with a comma is a bit clearer and more natural in writing.

What is the difference between buổi chiều and chiều?

Both can mean “(the) afternoon”, but:

buổi chiều
- more complete and neutral
- often used in careful speech and writing
chiều
- slightly shorter and more casual
- common in everyday spoken language

In this sentence, you could also say:

Chiều, tôi thường ở trong vườn…

It would still be understood the same way. Buổi chiều just sounds a bit more “full” and standard.

What does thường mean here, and where does it go in the sentence?

thường is an adverb meaning “often / usually”. It marks a habitual action.

Its normal position is right before the verb or verb phrase:

tôi thường ở trong vườn = I usually stay / am in the garden
tôi thường không làm việc = I usually don’t work

You do not say:

✗ tôi ở thường trong vườn

That sounds wrong. Keep thường before the main verb: thường ở, thường làm, thường đi, etc.

Why is it ở trong vườn, and can I say just trong vườn or ở vườn?

Breakdown:

ở = at / in / live / stay (location verb)
trong = inside, in
vườn = garden

ở trong vườn literally: be/stay in(side) the garden.

Alternatives:

tôi ở trong vườn (given sentence) – very natural
tôi ở vườn – also natural; a bit shorter, slightly less focus on “inside”
tôi trong vườn – possible in casual speech, but usually you keep ở:
- Standard: Tôi ở trong vườn.
- More common to drop ở when the location is the subject of the sentence:
  - Trong vườn có nhiều hoa. = In the garden there are many flowers.

So in this sentence, ở trong vườn is the safest and most standard choice.

Why is it với hoa and not something like với những bông hoa?

với = with
hoa = flower / flowers (no plural marking)

Vietnamese usually doesn’t mark plural unless you want to emphasize number or quantity. So hoa by itself can mean “flower(s)” depending on context.

You might choose:

với hoa – neutral, general “with flowers”
với những bông hoa – “with (those/some) flowers”, a bit more specific, emphasizes plurality
- bông is the classifier for flowers
- những marks “some / plural”

In most casual contexts, với hoa is perfectly natural and doesn’t feel incomplete to a native speaker.

What exactly does với express here? Could I use something else like cùng với?

Here, với expresses accompaniment / being together with:

ở trong vườn với hoa = in the garden with the flowers

Alternatives:

cùng với hoa – together with the flowers, slightly more emphatic/formal
giữa hoa – among the flowers (more descriptive, paints a picture)
bên hoa – beside the flowers

But in everyday speech, với hoa is short, clear, and natural.

How does không work in không làm việc? Why is không before the verb?

không is the basic negator “not / don’t” and it usually comes right before the verb or adjective:

tôi không làm việc = I don’t work / I am not working
tôi không mệt = I’m not tired

In your sentence, không negates làm việc:

…và không làm việc = and (I am) not working / and I don’t work.

You might also hear không có làm việc in speech. That’s often a little more emphatic or dialectal (especially Southern Vietnamese), but không làm việc is the standard, simple form.

Is the sentence about a habit (“I usually do this”) or about today’s afternoon? There are no tenses.

Vietnamese doesn’t mark tense the same way English does, so context and adverbs do the job.

Here, thường (usually/often) makes it clearly habitual:

Buổi chiều, tôi thường ở trong vườn…
→ In the afternoon, I usually stay in the garden… (a regular habit)

To talk about this specific afternoon, you would normally say:

Chiều nay, tôi ở trong vườn và không làm việc.
= This afternoon, I’m in the garden and not working.

Or add đang for a “right now” feeling:

Chiều nay, tôi đang ở trong vườn và không làm việc.
= This afternoon, I am (currently) in the garden and not working.

Can I change the word order, like Tôi thường buổi chiều ở trong vườn…?

You have some flexibility, but not every order is natural.

Natural patterns:

Buổi chiều, tôi thường ở trong vườn… (time at the front)
Tôi thường ở trong vườn vào buổi chiều… (time phrase later with vào)

Less natural / odd:

✗ Tôi thường buổi chiều ở trong vườn…
A native speaker would almost never say this; buổi chiều doesn’t fit well in that spot without a preposition.

If you want time later in the sentence, add vào:

Tôi thường ở trong vườn vào buổi chiều và không làm việc.

Do I have to say tôi, or can I drop the subject pronoun?

You can drop tôi if the context is clear, because Vietnamese often omits pronouns when they’re obvious:

Buổi chiều, thường ở trong vườn với hoa và không làm việc.

In isolation, that sounds a little incomplete in writing, but in conversation (when it’s clear you’re talking about yourself), it’s fine.

Using tôi makes it explicitly “I” and is good for learners and for clear written sentences. In natural conversation, Vietnamese speakers often replace tôi with more context-specific pronouns (anh, em, chị, cô, chú, etc.) depending on the relationship.