Cậu cắt rồi trộn; tớ rửa rồi chiên.

They are informal personal pronouns.

• cậu = you
• tớ = I / me

This pair is commonly used between friends, classmates, or people of similar age in a friendly, fairly casual way.

So Cậu cắt rồi trộn; tớ rửa rồi chiên means something like:

• You cut and then mix; I wash and then fry.

It is not a universal way to say you and I in Vietnamese. Vietnamese pronouns change depending on age, relationship, and level of politeness.

Because Vietnamese pronouns are relationship-based. Speakers choose pronouns according to things like:

• age
• social status
• closeness
• formality
• family-like roles

In this sentence, cậu / tớ shows a friendly, equal relationship. In other situations, different pronouns would be more natural, such as:

• bạn / mình
• anh / em
• chị / em
• tôi / bạn

So a learner should not think of cậu as always meaning you and tớ as always meaning I in every situation.

Here rồi means something like then, after that, or and then. It links two actions in sequence.

• cắt rồi trộn = cut, then mix
• rửa rồi chiên = wash, then fry

In other contexts, rồi can also mean already, but that is not the main idea here. Here it is mainly marking that one action happens before the next one.

So in this sentence, rồi is not just a past marker. It is showing order.

Not necessarily.

Vietnamese verbs do not change form for tense the way English verbs do. A sentence like this can refer to:

• a plan: You cut and mix; I’ll wash and fry
• instructions: You cut, then mix; I’ll wash, then fry
• a past sequence, if the context makes that clear

So rồi here mainly shows sequence, not automatic past tense.

Vietnamese often leaves out objects when they are already understood from context.

For example, if two people are cooking together, everyone may already know they are talking about:

• vegetables
• meat
• the ingredients
• the food being prepared

So cắt, trộn, rửa, and chiên can appear without explicitly naming the object.

English often prefers to repeat the object more, but Vietnamese can sound very natural without it if the meaning is obvious.

That is a very common Vietnamese pattern for sequential actions:

• Verb 1 + rồi + Verb 2

It means:

• do Verb 1 first
• then do Verb 2

Examples:

• ăn rồi đi = eat and then go
• rửa rồi cắt = wash and then cut
• học rồi ngủ = study and then sleep

So:

• cắt rồi trộn = cut, then mix
• rửa rồi chiên = wash, then fry

Not with exactly the same meaning.

• và means and
• rồi here means and then / after that

Compare:

• cắt và trộn = cut and mix
• cắt rồi trộn = cut, then mix

The version with rồi makes the sequence clearer. That is especially natural when describing steps in cooking.

The semicolon separates two related clauses:

• Cậu cắt rồi trộn
• tớ rửa rồi chiên

It shows a division of tasks:

• you do this part
• I do that part

In everyday writing, people might also use a comma, or even write it as two short sentences. The semicolon simply helps show that the two halves are closely connected but still distinct.

Yes. It sounds like two people dividing up cooking tasks in a casual way.

It is concise, which is very normal in Vietnamese when the context is clear. A speaker does not need to spell out every object or helper word.

Depending on tone and situation, a person might also say slightly fuller versions such as:

• Cậu cắt rồi trộn nhé, tớ rửa rồi chiên.
• Cậu cắt rồi trộn đi, tớ rửa rồi chiên.

But the original sentence is perfectly understandable and natural.

You can break it into two parallel parts:

• Cậu = you
• cắt rồi trộn = cut, then mix

and

• tớ = I
• rửa rồi chiên = wash, then fry

So the structure is:

• Subject + action sequence; subject + action sequence

This parallel structure is common in Vietnamese and makes the sentence feel balanced and efficient.

A rough guide for English speakers:

• cậu: sounds somewhat like guh-uh with a dipping tone
• cắt: short cut-like vowel, with a sharp stopped ending
• rồi: roughly zoy in northern speech, yoy in some southern speech
• trộn: roughly chohn / trohn with a heavy low tone
• tớ: roughly tuh with a rising tone
• rửa: roughly zuh-a in the north, yuh-a in some southern speech
• chiên: roughly chee-en

The exact pronunciation depends on dialect, especially for r and tr. Tone is also very important in Vietnamese, so listening to native audio is especially helpful.

Sometimes yes, if the context is very clear.

For example, in conversation, once it is obvious who is doing what, Vietnamese may omit a subject. But in this sentence, keeping cậu and tớ makes the division of responsibility very clear:

• you cut and mix
• I wash and fry

So including the subjects here is natural and useful.