Bữa tiệc sắp bắt đầu rồi, nhưng cha của Lan vẫn chưa về.

Bữa tiệc means the party / a party event, with bữa acting as a noun that often refers to an occasion, session, or meal-like event.

• tiệc = party, banquet, celebration
• bữa tiệc = party occasion

In many cases, Vietnamese speakers can say either tiệc or bữa tiệc, but bữa tiệc often sounds a little more like a complete event or occasion. In this sentence, it is very natural.

sắp means about to or soon to.

So:

• sắp bắt đầu = is about to start

It tells you the action has not happened yet, but it will happen very soon.

Common pattern:

• sắp + verb

Examples:

• Tôi sắp đi. = I’m about to leave.
• Trời sắp mưa. = It’s about to rain.

This is a very common question because rồi is often first learned as meaning already. But in real Vietnamese, rồi has several uses.

Here, rồi does not mean the party has already begun. In sắp ... rồi, it helps emphasize that something is imminent.

So:

• sắp bắt đầu = about to start
• sắp bắt đầu rồi = really about to start / going to start any moment now

This is a very natural pattern:

• sắp + verb + rồi

Examples:

• Xe buýt sắp đến rồi. = The bus is about to arrive.
• Hết giờ rồi. = Time is almost up / It’s time already.

So in this sentence, rồi adds urgency or immediacy.

bắt đầu is a fixed verb phrase meaning to begin / to start.

Although it is written as two syllables with a space, Vietnamese writing often separates syllables even when they belong to one lexical item. For learners, it is best to memorize bắt đầu as a single expression.

Examples:

• Phim bắt đầu lúc 8 giờ. = The movie starts at 8.
• Chúng ta bắt đầu nhé. = Let’s begin.

In your sentence:

• Bữa tiệc sắp bắt đầu rồi = The party is about to begin.

Vietnamese usually shows possession with the pattern:

• noun + của + possessor

So:

• cha của Lan = Lan’s father

This is the most straightforward and clear possessive structure for learners.

Breakdown:

• cha = father
• của = of
• Lan = Lan

Literally: father of Lan

Vietnamese also has other possessive-like structures in some contexts, but cha của Lan is the standard, easy-to-understand form here.

Yes. Vietnamese has several common words for father, and the choice depends on region, family habit, and level of formality.

Common options:

• cha = father; often a bit formal, literary, or regionally common in some areas
• bố = very common in northern Vietnamese
• ba = very common in southern Vietnamese
• tía = dialectal, less neutral in standard learning contexts

So cha của Lan is correct, but depending on context, you might also hear:

• bố của Lan
• ba của Lan

For learners, it is good to recognize all of them.

vẫn chưa means still not.

Breakdown:

• vẫn = still
• chưa = not yet

Together:

• vẫn chưa về = still hasn’t come back / still is not back yet

This combination is very common when something was expected to happen by now, but has not happened.

Examples:

• Anh ấy vẫn chưa ăn. = He still hasn’t eaten.
• Tôi vẫn chưa hiểu. = I still don’t understand.

Yes, chưa về would work, but it is weaker.

Compare:

• chưa về = has not come back yet
• vẫn chưa về = still has not come back yet

vẫn adds the sense that the speaker expected the person to be back already, or that the delay is noticeable.

So in your sentence:

• nhưng cha của Lan vẫn chưa về suggests a stronger contrast: the party is about to start, but Lan’s father is still not back.

Here, về means to return, to come back, or to go home/back, depending on context.

In this sentence, it most naturally means:

• Lan’s father still hasn’t come back or
• Lan’s father still hasn’t come home

Vietnamese về often has the idea of movement back to a place considered a destination, especially home or one’s usual place.

Examples:

• Tôi về nhà. = I’m going home.
• Anh ấy chưa về. = He hasn’t come back / He isn’t home yet.

Vietnamese does not mark tense the same way English does. Instead, time is often understood from:

• context
• time words
• aspect words such as đã, đang, sẽ, sắp, chưa, rồi

In this sentence:

• sắp shows the party will begin very soon
• chưa shows Lan’s father has not returned yet
• vẫn adds still
• rồi adds a sense of imminence

So even without English-style tense endings, the time reference is very clear.

nhưng means but.

It connects two ideas that contrast with each other:

1. Bữa tiệc sắp bắt đầu rồi = The party is about to start
2. cha của Lan vẫn chưa về = Lan’s father still hasn’t come back

The contrast is that the event is about to begin, yet an important person is still absent.

The basic word order is very typical Vietnamese:

• subject + time/aspect markers + verb

Here:

• cha của Lan = subject
• vẫn chưa = aspect/negative sequence
• về = verb

So the structure is:

• Cha của Lan / vẫn chưa / về.

This order is natural and standard.

If you move things around, the sentence may become unnatural or change emphasis.

Yes. That would be a very natural English translation.

Because về can mean come back / return / go home, the best English wording depends on context. Natural possibilities include:

• The party is about to start, but Lan’s father still hasn’t come back.
• The party is about to start, but Lan’s father still isn’t home yet.
• The party is about to begin, but Lan’s dad still hasn’t returned.

All of these fit the Vietnamese sentence well.

It is mostly neutral, but cha makes it sound a little more formal or literary than if it used bố or ba.

So:

• Bữa tiệc sắp bắt đầu rồi, nhưng cha của Lan vẫn chưa về. = neutral to slightly formal
• Bữa tiệc sắp bắt đầu rồi, nhưng bố của Lan vẫn chưa về. = very natural everyday northern-style wording
• Bữa tiệc sắp bắt đầu rồi, nhưng ba của Lan vẫn chưa về. = very natural everyday southern-style wording

The grammar is standard in all versions.