Tôi mua vài tem.

I

Breakdown of Tôi mua vài tem.

• mua: to buy
• tem: the postage stamp
• vài: a few

Questions & Answers about Tôi mua vài tem.

What does each word in Tôi mua vài tem mean?

Here is the word-by-word breakdown:

• Tôi = I
• mua = buy
• vài = a few / some
• tem = stamp(s)

So the whole sentence means something like:

• I buy a few stamps
• I bought some stamps

The exact English tense depends on context, because Vietnamese verbs do not change form the way English verbs do.

Is the word order the same as in English?

Mostly yes. Vietnamese here follows a very familiar pattern:

• Tôi = subject
• mua = verb
• vài tem = object noun phrase

So it is:

Subject + Verb + Quantity + Noun

That is similar to English:

I + buy + some + stamps

One important point is that vài comes before the noun, just like some or a few in English.

Does mua mean buy, buys, or bought?