làm tốt lắm
[laːm˨˩ tot̚˧˦ lam˧˦]word by word
làm tốt lắm is the Vietnamese way to say great job.
This phrase is used to praise a specific action or a completed task rather than a person's character.
Meaning: well done, congrats! (intj)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of làm (to do), tốt (good/well) and lắm (very/a lot).
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
làm tốt lắm is most natural in informal or semi-formal settings like praising a student, a child or a colleague.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word lắm is placed at the end of the phrase to intensify the adjective tốt.
When do people say it?
Tuyệt vời can be used to express amazement or admiration for something, including a great job.
Did you know?
- In Vietnamese culture, praising someone too directly or frequently in a group setting can sometimes cause the recipient to feel embarrassed or modesty-bound. A humble person might respond by denying the praise entirely.
- The character for làm in the old Nôm script was unified with a different character in the Unicode system until 2021. This means for years, computers treated the two different symbols as the same character.
- While làm tốt lắm is a common way to say 'great job', Vietnamese speakers often use 'giỏi' to praise someone's intelligence or skill. This distinguishes between doing a task well and being a talented person.
Examples in context
- Làm tốt lắm! Chúc mừng bạnGreat job! Congratulations!
- Làm đẹp lắm! Tuyệt vời!Beautifully done! Excellent!
- Con làm tốt lắm!You did a great job, child!
- Em làm tốt lắm, cố gắng lên nhé.You did a great job, keep it up.
- Mọi người đều làm tốt lắm.Everyone did a great job.
Example conversation
Hùng compliments Hương on her successful presentation at work.
- HùngHương làm tốt lắm!Hương, you did a great job!
- HươngCảm ơn anh, Hùng.Thank you, Hùng.
- HùngBài thuyết trình rất ấn tượng.The presentation was very impressive.
- HươngEm rất vui khi nghe vậy.I am very happy to hear that.
