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Learn Hardcore Vietnamese: Cậu xin nước nữa. - You ask for water again.

Hardcore Vietnamese
/Making plans with a friend
/Cậu xin nước nữa.

Cậu xin nước nữa.

Word

Cậu xin nước nữa.

Meaning

You ask for water again.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Vietnamese

Lesson

Making plans with a friend

Breakdown of Cậu xin nước nữa.

you (informal, peer)

to ask for; request

Questions & Answers about Cậu xin nước nữa.

What does cậu mean here?

Here, cậu means you.

It is an informal pronoun, usually used for:

a friend
a sibling or cousin
someone of similar age in a close relationship
sometimes someone younger

It is not a good default choice for strangers, bosses, teachers, or older people.

Why is cậu used instead of some other word for you?

Vietnamese does not have just one all-purpose word for you.

The pronoun depends on the relationship between the speakers, especially:

age
social status
family role
level of closeness

So cậu shows a particular kind of informal relationship. In another situation, you might be bạn, anh, chị, em, cháu, and so on.

What does xin mean here? Is it like ask, ask for, or beg?

In this sentence, xin means ask for or request.

It often has a polite or humble feeling, but it does not necessarily mean beg. It is commonly used when asking to receive something or asking permission.

So xin is closer to:

ask for
request
please give me

than to a strong English word like beg.

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Why is xin used instead of hỏi?

Because xin and hỏi do different jobs.

hỏi = ask a question
xin = ask for something, or ask permission

So if you want information, you use hỏi.
If you want to receive water, you use xin.

Why is there no word like some or the before nước?

Vietnamese does not use articles the way English does.

So nước by itself can mean:

water
some water
the water

The exact meaning comes from context.

Also, because water is a mass noun, Vietnamese does not need a classifier here unless you want to be more specific, such as:

một cốc nước = a glass of water
một chai nước = a bottle of water

Can nước mean something other than water?

Yes. Nước has several meanings depending on context, including:

water
liquid
drink
country or nation

In this sentence, because it comes after xin, it naturally means water or possibly a drink, not country.

What does nữa mean here?

Nữa often means:

more
again
another
additional

In this sentence, it suggests that the action or the amount is not the first one.

Depending on context, English might express it as:

more water
water again
another water/drink

Context decides which nuance is strongest.

Why is it nữa and not thêm?

Both nữa and thêm can relate to the idea of more.

A simple way to think about them is:

thêm focuses on adding more
nữa often means more, again, or another one

In real speech, both are common, and they can even appear together:

xin thêm nước
xin thêm nước nữa

So your sentence is fine, but learners should know that thêm is also very common in this kind of situation.

How does the word order work in Cậu xin nước nữa?

The basic order is:

Cậu = subject
xin = verb
nước = object
nữa = extra word meaning more/again

So the pattern is basically:

subject + verb + object + nữa

This is normal Vietnamese word order. Vietnamese often puts words like nữa after the thing or action they relate to.

Is there any tense in this sentence?

No explicit tense is marked here.

Vietnamese verbs do not change form for past, present, or future the way English verbs do. A sentence like this can be understood from context.

If needed, Vietnamese can add words such as:

đã for past
đang for an ongoing action
sẽ for future

Without those markers, the sentence is tense-neutral.

Is this sentence a statement or a command?

By itself, without punctuation or extra particles, it is most naturally read as a plain statement.

But in speech, context and intonation matter a lot. Depending on how it is said, it could also sound like an instruction.

If you want to make it more clearly directive, Vietnamese often adds particles such as:

đi
nhé
với

Those make the speaker’s intention clearer.

Does this sound natural and polite?

It is grammatical and understandable, but it sounds fairly plain.

cậu makes it informal
xin adds some politeness
the whole sentence still feels a bit bare on its own

In everyday Vietnamese, speakers often add softening words or use thêm if they want a more natural conversational tone.

So it is fine for learning structure, but in real conversation you may often hear slightly fuller versions.

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