Tôi đã để xe ở trước khách sạn.

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Breakdown of Tôi đã để xe ở trước khách sạn.

• ở: at
• đã: (past marker)
• khách sạn: the hotel

Questions & Answers about Tôi đã để xe ở trước khách sạn.

What does đã mean in this sentence?

Đã is a past/completed-action marker. In Tôi đã để xe ở trước khách sạn, it shows that the action happened before now.

A useful way to think about it:

• Tôi để xe ở trước khách sạn = I leave / I left / I park / I parked in front of the hotel, depending on context
• Tôi đã để xe ở trước khách sạn = I already left/parked the vehicle in front of the hotel

Vietnamese does not mark tense the same way English does, so words like đã help make the time clearer.

What does để xe mean here?

Literally, để means to leave or to put, and xe means vehicle. Together, để xe often means to leave one's vehicle somewhere, and in many situations it can be understood as to park.

So this sentence can mean something like:

• I left my vehicle in front of the hotel.
• I parked in front of the hotel.

Depending on context, it may sound slightly broader than English park, because để xe focuses on where the vehicle was left.

Is xe a car here?

Not necessarily. Xe is a general word meaning vehicle. It could refer to:

• a motorbike
• a bicycle
• a car
• another vehicle

In Vietnam, if no other context is given, many people may first imagine a , because that is very common. If you want to be specific, you can say: