đã
Vietnamese
Alternative forms
- (literary) đà
Pronunciation
Particle
- (before verb, usually formal) A past-tense marker: already; done
- (at the end of a sentence) Reinforces completion: first
- Đi chơi đi!
Đợi tớ rửa bát xong đã.- Let's go out!
Let me finish washing the dishes first.
- Let's go out!
Usage notes
- In most natural contexts, đã is formal. A Vietnamese would formally say "Anh ấy đã chết trong chiến tranh" ("He died in the war"), but not casually say *"Cháu đã ăn cơm" ("I had a meal") or *"Hôm qua tao đã thấy nó ở đường Yersin" ("I saw him yesterday on Yersin Street"). Instead, they would say "Cháu ăn cơm rồi" and "Hôm qua tao thấy nó ở đường Yersin".
- Otherwise, it is used artificially in common awkward translation work; or casually in very few patterns only for emphasis, and in these cases, it can be considered equivalent to the use of the English present perfect tense. For example:
- Con đã ăn cơm chưa?
- Have you eaten yet?
- Mày có biết bờ biển Nha Trang đẹp thế nào hông? ・ Tao đã đi Nha Trang bao giờ đâu mà biết!
- Do you have any idea how beautiful the Nha Trang beaches are? ・ How am I supposed to know? I've never been to Nha Trang!
See also
Adjective
đã
- (colloquial) satisfied; pleasurable; refreshing; cool
- 2011, (deprecated template usage) Dưới bóng cây [In the Shade of Trees], link (0:40)
- Ếch, cua. Lại đây chuột cho coi cái này đã lắm nè!
- Frog! Crab! Come here, I will show you something. It's really cool!
- 2011, (deprecated template usage) Dưới bóng cây [In the Shade of Trees], link (0:40)