Vietnamese 'à' Usage (Is it? / Ah)
'à' placed at the end of a sentence is often used to confirm, question, or express newly learned information.
Quick explanation
Quick explanation
'à' placed at the end of a sentence is often used to confirm, question, or express newly learned information.
English meanings
- is it?
- ah
Grammar pattern
Examples
1
Bạn là người Anh à?
Are you English?
2
Hôm nay nghỉ à?
Is today a day off?
How to use it
'à' carries a confirming tone stronger than a simple yes/no question. It can be like English 'is it?', 'ah?', depending on context and intonation.
- Commonly used to confirm newly heard information.
- Tone can indicate surprise, dissatisfaction, or simple inquiry.
Compared with English
Compared with English
English uses rising intonation or question tags to express surprise or confirmation; Vietnamese often uses 'à' at sentence end to mark this explicitly.
Common mistakes
Bạn là người Anh không à?
Bạn là người Anh à?
'à' alone forms a confirmation question; usually not combined with 'không'.
À bạn đi đâu?
Bạn đi đâu à?
'à' as sentence-final confirmation particle should be at the end.
Commonly confused grammar
Practice
Multiple choice
Which sentence correctly uses 'à'?
Show answer
Multiple choice
Which sentence correctly uses 'à'?
- Bạn là người Anh à?
- Bạn là người Anh không à?
- À bạn đi đâu?
Answer: Bạn là người Anh à?
Explanation: Commonly used to confirm newly heard information.
Fill in the blank
Fill in the blank: Bạn l____ người Anh à?
Show answer
Fill in the blank
Fill in the blank: Bạn l____ người Anh à?
Answer: Bạn là người Anh à?
Explanation: Commonly used to confirm newly heard information.
English to Vietnamese
Translate "Are you English?" into Vietnamese.
Show answer
English to Vietnamese
Translate "Are you English?" into Vietnamese.
Answer: Bạn là người Anh à?
Explanation: Use à in the same structure as the example.
True or false
True or False: Bạn là người Anh không à?
Show answer
True or false
True or False: Bạn là người Anh không à?
Answer: False
Explanation: 'à' alone forms a confirmation question; usually not combined with 'không'.
Correction
Correct the sentence with unnatural 'à' placement to natural spoken form.
Show answer
Correction
Correct the sentence with unnatural 'à' placement to natural spoken form.
Answer: Bạn là người Anh à?
Explanation: 'à' as a sentence-final particle is usually placed at the end of the sentence or intonation unit.