Learn Hardcore Vietnamese: Rảnh không? Ghé qua, đi chơi nhé.

Breakdown of Rảnh không? Ghé qua, đi chơi nhé.

Why is Rảnh không? translated as Are you free? even though there is no word for you or are?

Vietnamese often leaves out subjects and the verb to be when the meaning is clear from context.

So Rảnh không? is literally closer to Free not?, but naturally it means:

In conversation, Vietnamese commonly omits bạn / cậu / anh / chị if both speakers already know who is being addressed.

How does không work in Rảnh không?

Here, không is a very common yes/no question marker.

Pattern:

So:

In this sentence, không does not mean no by itself; it marks the question.

What does rảnh mean exactly?

Rảnh means free, not busy, or available.

It is often used for time and schedule:

So in Rảnh không?, the speaker is asking whether the other person has free time.