Ghế đang quay.

Vietnamese basic word order is usually Subject + Verb + Object/Complement, much like English.

So in Ghế đang quay:

• ghế = the chair / chair
• đang quay = is turning / is spinning

So the sentence structure is:

• Ghế = subject
• đang quay = predicate

Literally, it is something like Chair is turning.

Vietnamese usually does not use articles like a, an, or the.

So ghế can mean:

• a chair
• the chair
• chairs (in some contexts)

The exact meaning depends on context. In a real situation, Ghế đang quay would usually be understood as The chair is spinning/turning if both speaker and listener know which chair is being talked about.

đang marks an action as in progress. It is similar to the English be + -ing form.

So:

• quay = turn / spin
• đang quay = be turning / be spinning

That is why Ghế đang quay means The chair is turning/spinning rather than just The chair turns.

Yes. Ghế quay is possible, but the meaning changes slightly depending on context.

• Ghế đang quay = the chair is spinning right now
• Ghế quay = the chair turns / spins, or sometimes just a more neutral statement without emphasizing the ongoing action

So đang makes the action feel more clearly happening at this moment.

Here, quay means to turn, to rotate, or to spin.

In this sentence, it describes the chair rotating. Depending on context, English could translate it as:

• The chair is turning.
• The chair is spinning.
• The chair is rotating.

The best choice depends on the situation. If it is a swivel chair moving around, spinning or turning sounds natural.

Yes. quay is a very common word with several meanings depending on context. For example, it can also mean:

• to turn around
• to rotate
• to film / record with a camera
• in some combinations, ideas related to returning or facing back

But in Ghế đang quay, the meaning is clearly the physical motion to spin/turn.

ghế is pronounced roughly like gheh, but with Vietnamese sounds and tone.

A few important points:

• gh before e is pronounced like English g in get
• ê is a vowel somewhat like the vowel in day, but shorter and steadier
• the acute accent on ế shows a rising tone

So ghế is not pronounced like English gee or gay exactly. It is closer to a short geh with a rising tone.

quay is pronounced approximately like kway.

A few notes:

• qu in Vietnamese is usually pronounced like kw
• ay here sounds somewhat like the vowel in English eye, though not exactly the same in all dialects
• quay has no tone mark, so it carries the ngang tone, which is relatively level

So a useful approximation is kway, said with a level tone.

By itself, ghế does not clearly show singular or plural.

It can mean:

• chair
• a chair
• the chair
• chairs

Context tells you which meaning is intended.

If you want to be more specific, Vietnamese can add numbers or classifiers, for example:

• một cái ghế = one chair / a chair
• những cái ghế = chairs
• cái ghế đó = that chair

But in Ghế đang quay, the sentence is naturally understood from context.

Not necessarily.

Vietnamese classifiers like cái are often used with nouns, especially when:

• counting things
• identifying something more specifically
• adding emphasis or naturalness in certain contexts

For example:

• Cái ghế đang quay = The chair is spinning.

This is also natural. But Ghế đang quay is still grammatical, especially when the noun is being used more generally or the context is already clear.

So both can work, but cái is not required in every sentence.

Because Vietnamese does not need a verb like is in the same way English does.

In English, you need:

• The chair is spinning

In Vietnamese, đang already helps mark the ongoing action, and the verb quay functions directly as the main verb:

• Ghế đang quay

So there is no separate word equivalent to English is here.

Here it is used intransitively, meaning the chair itself is doing the action:

• Ghế đang quay = The chair is spinning.

But quay can also be used in other structures. For example, in some contexts it can be part of a causative or transitive idea, depending on the sentence. In this sentence, though, it simply means the chair is rotating on its own.

Sometimes yes, because xoay and quay can both relate to turning or rotating. But they are not always identical in usage.

• quay often feels very natural for spinning/rotating
• xoay can also mean to rotate, twist, or turn

For a chair physically rotating, Ghế đang quay sounds very natural.
Ghế đang xoay might be possible in some contexts, but quay is a more straightforward choice here.

Yes. Grammatically, it simply states that the chair is turning/spinning. It does not explain why.

Depending on context, it could mean:

• someone is sitting in it and turning it
• the wind is moving it
• it is a swivel chair rotating
• it is strangely turning by itself

The sentence only describes the action, not the cause.

Yes. Ghế đang quay is a complete and natural sentence.

It is short, but Vietnamese often allows short sentences when the context is clear. Native speakers frequently omit extra words that English would require, such as articles or sometimes more detailed subjects.

So as a standalone sentence, it is perfectly fine and natural.