Tôi trồng cây.

I grow a plant.

Breakdown of Tôi trồng cây.

• tôi: I
• cây: the plant or tree
• trồng: to plant or grow

Questions & Answers about Tôi trồng cây.

What does each word in Tôi trồng cây mean?

• tôi = I
• trồng = to plant / to grow / to cultivate
• cây = tree / plant

So the sentence is built very simply as I + plant/grow + tree(s)/plant(s).

Why is the word order Tôi trồng cây?

Because Vietnamese usually uses the same basic word order as English here: Subject + Verb + Object.

• Tôi = subject
• trồng = verb
• cây = object

So it works like I plant trees.

What exactly does trồng mean here?

Trồng is used for planting something in the ground and often also growing/cultivating it.

Depending on context, it can be translated as:

• plant
• grow
• cultivate

It is not the same as:

• mọc = to grow/sprout on its own
• lớn lên = to grow up

So Tôi trồng cây suggests that the speaker is actively planting or cultivating plants.