Thảm ở trên bãi cỏ.

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Breakdown of Thảm ở trên bãi cỏ.

• trên: on (on top of)
• bãi cỏ: the lawn
• thảm: the mat or rug

Questions & Answers about Thảm ở trên bãi cỏ.

Why is there no word for is in Thảm ở trên bãi cỏ?

In Vietnamese, you usually do not use a verb like is for location.

So:

• Thảm ở trên bãi cỏ = The rug/carpet is on the grass
• literally, it is more like Rug at/on top of grass area

The word là is not used here. Là is mainly for equational sentences, such as:

• Đây là thảm. = This is a rug.

But for location, Vietnamese normally uses words like ở, trên, dưới, trong, etc., without an extra is.

What does ở trên mean, and why are there two words?

Ở trên is a location expression.

• ở = at, in, located at
• trên = on, above, over

Together, ở trên means something like is on / is above / is located on.

In this sentence, ở helps mark location, and trên gives the specific spatial relation.

So:

• Thảm ở trên bãi cỏ = The rug is on the grass

In everyday Vietnamese, people may also shorten this and say:

• Thảm trên bãi cỏ

That can sound natural too, especially when the meaning is obvious.