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What does “trên” mean?
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The Vietnamese word, its English meaning, an example sentence and a small note appear here the moment you choose.
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trên
on / on top
Cái bút ở trên cái ghế.
The pen is on the chair.
Resting on a surface and touching it: on the chair, on the table.
dưới
under / below
Cái túi ở dưới cái ghế.
The bag is under the chair.
Lower than something else: under the chair, under the table.
trong
inside / in
Cái bút ở trong cái túi.
The pen is in the bag.
Inside a container or a space: in the bag, in the room.
ngoài
outside
Con mèo ngồi ở ngoài.
The cat sits outside.
Not inside — out of the room, the house, the box. Opposite of trong.
trước
in front (of)
Cái túi ở trước cái ghế.
The bag is in front of the chair.
In front of something. trước also means "before" in time.
sau
behind
Con mèo ở sau cái ghế.
The cat is behind the chair.
Behind something. sau also means "after" in time.
bên cạnh
next to
Cái túi ở bên cạnh cái ghế.
The bag is next to the chair.
Right beside something, touching or almost touching. Often shortened to cạnh.
giữa
between / in the middle
Cái bút ở giữa cái túi và cái ghế.
The pen is between the bag and the chair.
Between two things, or in the middle of a space.
gần
close / near
Cái ghế ở gần cửa.
The chair is near the door.
Close by, with a gap — not touching. Opposite: xa (far).
ghế
chair
Cái ghế này rất đẹp.
This chair is very nice.
Watch the vowel: ghế (with ê) is a chair; ghé (with e) means "to drop by".
túi
bag
Cái túi của tôi ở trên ghế.
My bag is on the chair.
A bag or a pocket. của tôi = "my".
bút
pen
Cái bút của tôi ở đâu?
Where is my pen?
Pen. In full: cái bút or cây bút. ở đâu = "where".
ngồi
to sit
Tôi ngồi trên cái ghế.
I sit on the chair.
The verb "to sit". Vietnamese verbs never change form: tôi ngồi, bạn ngồi.
cho tôi cái ghế
give me the chair / get me a chair
Cho tôi cái ghế, được không?
Give me the chair, is that okay?
cho = give/for, tôi = me, cái = the classifier for objects. Swap ghế for túi or bút to ask for something else.
Why this is good practice
trên, dưới, trong, ngoài, trước, sau, bên cạnh, giữa and gần are hard to memorise from a list, because a list gives them nothing to sit on. A picture of a pen on a chair does.
Every answer is one tiny step, and the translation appears immediately — right answer or wrong. Meet the words first, then run the recall sprint to produce them from English.