Learn Hardcore Vietnamese: Bác sĩ đó rất tốt.

With adjectives, you normally say:
- Subject + (degree word) + adjective
- Example: Bác sĩ đó rất tốt. → That doctor is very good.
You do not say: *Bác sĩ đó là rất tốt. (This sounds wrong or unnatural in standard Vietnamese.)

The word là is usually used:

Before nouns / noun phrases:
- Bác sĩ đó là người Mỹ. – That doctor is American.
- Anh ấy là bác sĩ. – He is a doctor.

So the rule of thumb:

Subject + adjective → no là
Subject + noun → use là

What does bác sĩ actually mean, and how is it pronounced?

Bác sĩ means “doctor” (medical doctor).

It’s written as two syllables: bác
- sĩ, but together they form one word: bác sĩ.
Tones:
- bác – high-rising broken tone (dấu sắc on a)
- sĩ – falling-rising creaky tone (dấu ngã on i)

Very rough pronunciation (not exact, just to guide an English speaker):

bác: like “back” but shorter and higher-pitched, with a sharp rise.
sĩ: like “see” but with a kind of “wavy” tone (fall then rise a bit).

You’ll also hear bác sĩ used as a form of address:

Bác sĩ ơi, giúp tôi với! – Doctor, please help me!

What does đó mean here, and how is it different from này or kia?

Đó, này, and kia are demonstratives, a bit like this / that / that over there.

này – this, close to the speaker
- Bác sĩ này – this doctor (near me/us)
đó – that, relatively near the listener or just “that” in general
- Bác sĩ đó – that doctor (often neutral “that”)
kia – that over there, far from both speaker and listener (or emphasizing distance)
- Bác sĩ kia – that doctor over there

In everyday speech, đó is very common as a general “that” without strongly emphasizing distance.

Can I drop đó and just say Bác sĩ rất tốt? Does the meaning change?

Yes, you can say Bác sĩ rất tốt, but the nuance changes slightly.

Bác sĩ đó rất tốt.
- Points to a specific doctor: that doctor (we both know which one) is very good.
Bác sĩ rất tốt.
- More general:
  - Either talking about doctors as a group (“Doctors are very good/kind”)
  - Or, in context, could still mean “the doctor is very good” if it’s already clear who you’re talking about.

In isolation, bác sĩ đó sounds more clearly specific than just bác sĩ.

What does rất do here? Is it necessary?

Rất is a degree adverb meaning “very”.

Bác sĩ đó tốt. – That doctor is good.
Bác sĩ đó rất tốt. – That doctor is very good.

You can:

Omit rất if you just want a neutral “good”
Replace it with other intensifiers for different flavors:
- Bác sĩ đó tốt lắm. – very good (often used more in speech)
- Bác sĩ đó tốt quá. – so good / wonderfully good (more emotional)
- Bác sĩ đó cực kỳ tốt. – extremely good

So rất is not required grammatically, but it changes the strength of the meaning.

Does tốt mean “good at the job” or “kind / nice”? How is it different from giỏi?

Tốt is a general positive adjective. Depending on context, it can mean:

morally good / kind / nice:
- Bác sĩ đó rất tốt. – That doctor is very kind / a very good person.
good / fine / satisfactory in a broad sense:
- Sức khỏe của anh rất tốt. – Your health is very good.

Giỏi focuses on skill / ability:

Bác sĩ đó rất giỏi. – That doctor is very skilled / very competent.
Cô ấy học giỏi. – She studies well / is good at studying.

So:

rất tốt about a doctor often suggests kind-hearted, good person, treats people well (though context can make it more general).
rất giỏi clearly highlights professional skill.

How would I make this sentence negative or turn it into a question?

Negative (not good):

Bác sĩ đó không tốt. – That doctor is not good.
Không goes before the adjective:
- Subject + không + adjective

Yes–no question (“Is that doctor very good?”):

Common patterns:

Bác sĩ đó có tốt không? – Is that doctor good?
(You can add rất as well: có rất tốt không?, though often you just ask có tốt không?)
Bác sĩ đó tốt không? – More casual, same meaning.

Notice:

You just add có … không? or không? to form many yes–no questions; you don’t change word order like in English.

Does this sentence mean “is very good” or “was very good”? Where is the tense?

Vietnamese verbs and adjectives do not change form for tense. Bác sĩ đó rất tốt. is time-neutral by itself.

Depending on context, it can mean:

That doctor is very good. (present)
That doctor was very good. (past)
That doctor will be very good. (future, in some contexts)

If you want to make the time clearer, you add time markers:

Past:
- Bác sĩ đó đã rất tốt. – That doctor was very good.
Present progressive (ongoing situation):
- Usually rely on context or say something like:
  - Dạo này bác sĩ đó rất tốt. – These days that doctor is very good.
Future:
- Bác sĩ đó sẽ rất tốt. – That doctor will be very good.

But in ordinary conversation, Bác sĩ đó rất tốt. is usually understood as present unless context says otherwise.

Is the word order fixed? Can I say Rất tốt bác sĩ đó instead?

The natural, standard word order in Vietnamese is:

Subject + (degree word) + adjective
Bác sĩ đó rất tốt.

Rất tốt bác sĩ đó sounds unnatural or poetic/marked at best, and in regular conversation it will likely be taken as wrong.

So in normal speech:

Keep: Bác sĩ đó rất tốt.
Do not put rất tốt in front of the subject in this kind of simple statement.

Why isn’t there a classifier before bác sĩ? Could I say vị bác sĩ đó?

Classifiers are common in Vietnamese, but titles / professions like bác sĩ, thầy giáo (teacher), cô giáo (female teacher) often appear without a classifier when they are used as the main noun.

So Bác sĩ đó rất tốt. is completely natural.

You can use a classifier for extra nuance:

Vị bác sĩ đó rất tốt.
- vị is a polite classifier for people (often for respected professions).
- This can sound a bit more formal / respectful, like That (respected) doctor is very good.

Other options:

Ông bác sĩ đó rất tốt. – That male doctor is very good. (more specific about gender and age)
Cô bác sĩ đó rất tốt. – That female (younger) doctor is very good.

But the simple Bác sĩ đó rất tốt. is the most straightforward and neutral.

Are bác, sĩ, đó, rất, tốt all separate words? Why are there spaces between every syllable?

Vietnamese writing is syllable-based, and each syllable is usually written with a space, even when several syllables form one word.

In Bác sĩ đó rất tốt.:

bác sĩ – one word (doctor), written as two syllables
đó – one word (that)
rất – one word (very)
tốt – one word (good)

So:

Orthographically (in writing): every syllable has its own space.
Linguistically (in meaning): bác sĩ is one lexical item, not “uncle” + “scholar” in everyday use.

This is just how modern Vietnamese spelling works; you get used to recognizing which syllables go together as one word.

How would I address a doctor directly using this word?

When talking about a doctor, you say:

Bác sĩ đó rất tốt. – That doctor is very good.

When speaking to a doctor, you can use bác sĩ as a form of address:

Bác sĩ ơi, cho tôi hỏi… – Doctor, may I ask…
Bác sĩ thấy sao ạ? – What do you think, doctor? (polite ạ)

You normally do not call them just bác or just sĩ; the full bác sĩ is the polite title.