Sau khi chụp ảnh xong, mẹ của Lan sẽ đưa em gái cô ấy về nhà.

Yes. Sau khi means after in the sense of after doing something.

• sau = after / later
• khi = when

Together, sau khi introduces a clause:

• Sau khi chụp ảnh xong = After taking photos / After the photo-taking was finished

In English, we often just say after. In Vietnamese, sau khi is a very common way to introduce this kind of time clause.

Xong means finished / completed. It emphasizes that the action has been completed.

So:

• sau khi chụp ảnh = after taking photos
• sau khi chụp ảnh xong = after finishing taking photos

In many cases, xong is optional, but it is very natural in Vietnamese because speakers often like to mark completion clearly.

You will often see this pattern:

• ăn xong = finish eating
• làm xong = finish doing
• học xong = finish studying

So chụp ảnh xong is a very normal Vietnamese structure.

The subject is not stated in that opening clause. Vietnamese often leaves out the subject when it is clear from context or not important.

So Sau khi chụp ảnh xong literally means something like:

• After finishing taking photos

It does not explicitly say who took the photos. The listener is expected to infer it from context.

This is very common in Vietnamese. English often prefers to make the subject clearer, but Vietnamese is more comfortable omitting it.

Của is a possessive marker, similar to of or sometimes ’s in English.

So:

• mẹ của Lan = Lan’s mother / the mother of Lan

Here:

• mẹ = mother
• của = of
• Lan = Lan

This is a straightforward possessive structure:

• nhà của tôi = my house
• sách của Lan = Lan’s book
• mẹ của Lan = Lan’s mother

Yes, very often.

In everyday Vietnamese, mẹ Lan is common and natural, especially in speech. It can mean:

• Lan’s mother
• or even Lan’s mom as a way of referring to her

So:

• mẹ của Lan = a bit more explicit, slightly fuller
• mẹ Lan = shorter and very natural in conversation

Both are correct. The version with của may sound a bit more careful or written, depending on context.

Sẽ is a future marker. It usually means will.

So:

• sẽ đưa = will take
• mẹ của Lan sẽ đưa... = Lan’s mother will take...

Vietnamese does not always have to mark the future, but sẽ is used when the speaker wants to show that the action is in the future.

Compare:

• Mẹ của Lan đưa em gái cô ấy về nhà. = can mean a habitual action, present/future depending on context
• Mẹ của Lan sẽ đưa em gái cô ấy về nhà. = clearly future

Đưa means to take someone/something somewhere or to bring depending on perspective.

In this sentence, đưa ... về nhà means:

• take someone home

It is commonly used when a person causes another person to go to a place:

• đưa con đến trường = take the child to school
• đưa bạn về nhà = take a friend home

So đưa is a very natural choice here because the mother is accompanying or transporting the younger sister.

This is a very common question.

• đưa is often used for taking/bringing a person somewhere, or handing something to someone.
• mang is often used for carrying/bringing an object.

Examples:

• đưa em gái về nhà = take the younger sister home
• mang túi về nhà = carry/bring the bag home

Using mang for a person would usually sound wrong in this context. For people, đưa is much more natural.

Yes. Em gái means younger sister.

Breakdown:

• em = younger sibling / younger person
• gái = female

So:

• em gái = younger sister
• em trai = younger brother
• chị gái = older sister
• anh trai = older brother

Vietnamese is very specific about relative age in family terms, much more than English.

This phrase can be ambiguous.

• cô ấy means she / her
• So em gái cô ấy = her younger sister

But who is her?

Grammatically, it could refer to:

• Lan
• or Lan’s mother, since both are female

In most contexts, the intended meaning is probably Lan’s younger sister, because that is the more logical family relationship in this sentence. But the wording is still potentially unclear.

If you want to remove the ambiguity, Vietnamese would often say:

• em gái của Lan = Lan’s younger sister

That is clearer than em gái cô ấy here.

Often, yes.

Because the sentence already mentions Lan, using cô ấy can create confusion about whether her refers to Lan or Lan’s mother.

So many speakers would prefer:

• Sau khi chụp ảnh xong, mẹ của Lan sẽ đưa em gái của Lan về nhà.

This is clearer, even though it repeats Lan.

Vietnamese does allow pronouns like cô ấy, but clarity is very important. Repeating the noun is often more natural than using a potentially ambiguous pronoun.

Về nhà means go/return home or back home, and it is the natural expression for going home.

So:

• đưa em gái ... về nhà = take her home

By contrast:

• đến nhà means arrive at a house/home

That is a different idea. If someone is being taken to their home, Vietnamese usually says về nhà, not đến nhà.

Examples:

• Tôi về nhà. = I’m going home.
• Tôi đến nhà bạn. = I’m going to my friend’s house.

Yes, it can.

Vietnamese often puts time clauses at the beginning, but you can also move them later if the sentence remains clear.

For example:

• Mẹ của Lan sẽ đưa em gái cô ấy về nhà sau khi chụp ảnh xong.

That is still grammatical.

However, putting Sau khi chụp ảnh xong at the beginning sounds very natural because it sets the time frame first, which Vietnamese often likes to do.

Yes, both are common.

• chụp ảnh = take photos
• chụp hình = take photos

They are very close in meaning. Which one sounds more natural can depend on region and personal preference.

So you could also say:

• Sau khi chụp hình xong...

That would still sound normal.

It is grammatical and understandable, but it sounds a little more careful or written than everyday casual speech.

Why?

• mẹ của Lan is a fuller possessive form
• cô ấy can sound a bit more explicit than what people might say casually
• the sentence structure is neat and textbook-like

In everyday speech, people might say something more like:

• Chụp ảnh xong, mẹ Lan sẽ đưa em gái Lan về nhà.

That version is shorter and often sounds more conversational.

Vietnamese does not use articles the same way English does.

In English, you need things like:

• the mother
• a younger sister

In Vietnamese, nouns usually appear without articles:

• mẹ của Lan
• em gái cô ấy
• nhà

The meaning is understood from context. This is one of the big differences English speakers have to get used to when learning Vietnamese.