Tiền thuê nhà khá đắt.

It breaks down like this:

• tiền = money
• thuê = to rent / rent
• nhà = house / home

Together, tiền thuê nhà means house rent, rent money, or more naturally in English, rent.

A useful way to think of it is:

• thuê nhà = renting a house / rent a house
• tiền thuê nhà = the money for renting a house

Vietnamese often builds noun phrases this way without extra words like of.

Because Vietnamese often does not use a verb like to be when linking a subject to an adjective.

So:

• Tiền thuê nhà khá đắt.
• literally: Rent fairly expensive.
• natural English: The rent is quite expensive.

This is very normal in Vietnamese. When the predicate is an adjective like đắt (expensive), you usually do not need là.

A common learner mistake is:

• Tiền thuê nhà là khá đắt. ❌

That sounds unnatural here.

Khá means something like:

• quite
• rather
• fairly

So khá đắt means:

• quite expensive
• rather expensive

It usually softens the statement a little compared with just saying:

• đắt = expensive

Compare:

• Tiền thuê nhà đắt. = The rent is expensive.
• Tiền thuê nhà khá đắt. = The rent is quite/rather expensive.

So khá adds degree, but it is not as strong as something like rất (very).

Because Vietnamese sentence order here is:

• subject/topic + adjective

In this sentence:

• Tiền thuê nhà = the rent
• khá đắt = quite expensive

So the adjective comes after the noun phrase it describes in the predicate part of the sentence.

That is different from English, where we often say:

• The rent is expensive

Vietnamese does not need is, so the adjective naturally appears at the end.

No. Another very common word is mắc.

So you may hear:

• Tiền thuê nhà khá đắt.
• Tiền thuê nhà khá mắc.

Both can mean The rent is quite expensive.

A rough guideline:

• đắt is very common and widely understood
• mắc is also common, especially in everyday speech, and is often associated with southern usage, though people elsewhere understand it too

If you are a beginner, đắt is a very safe choice.

Yes, literally it means the money for renting a house, so the idea is broader than a single English word. In context, though, it usually just means rent.

Depending on context, English translations could be:

• rent
• rental cost
• house rent
• money for renting a house

In normal conversation, rent is usually the best translation.

Usually tiền thuê nhà is clearer and more natural if you specifically mean rent.

Why?

• tiền nhà can be understood more broadly depending on context:
  • housing expenses
  • household money
  • money related to the house
• tiền thuê nhà specifically means rent money

So if your meaning is clearly rent, tiền thuê nhà is a better choice.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• Tiền ≈ tee-uhn
• thuê ≈ tway (with Vietnamese pronunciation, not exactly English tway)
• nhà ≈ a bit like nya
• khá ≈ kha with a rising tone
• đắt ≈ dut / duht with a short clipped ending

Important tone notes:

• tiền has a falling-ish tone
• nhà has a low falling tone
• khá has a rising tone
• đắt has a sharp tone with a stopped ending

The consonants also matter:

• nh in nhà is like Spanish ñ or ny
• đ is not the same as plain d in Vietnamese; it sounds more like an English d

It is mostly a neutral statement, but because it says quite expensive, it often carries a slight sense of evaluation or mild complaint depending on tone of voice and context.

Compare:

• Tiền thuê nhà khá đắt. = The rent is quite expensive.
  
  • mild evaluation
• Tiền thuê nhà đắt quá. = The rent is too expensive / so expensive.
  
  • stronger complaint
• Tiền thuê nhà hơi đắt. = The rent is a little expensive.
  
  • softer

So khá đắt is noticeable but not extreme.

Yes.

To make it a question, you can say:

• Tiền thuê nhà khá đắt à? = Is the rent quite expensive?
• Tiền thuê nhà có khá đắt không? = Is the rent quite expensive?

To make it negative:

• Tiền thuê nhà không khá đắt. = The rent is not quite expensive.
  This is grammatical, but a bit unusual.

More natural negatives are often:

• Tiền thuê nhà không đắt. = The rent is not expensive.
• Tiền thuê nhà không quá đắt. = The rent is not too expensive.

So while you can negate khá đắt, Vietnamese often phrases the idea in a more natural way.

Vietnamese does not use articles the same way English does.

So:

• Tiền thuê nhà khá đắt.

can mean:

• The rent is quite expensive
• Rent is quite expensive

Which one is intended depends on context.

Vietnamese often leaves this kind of thing unstated when it is already clear from the situation.