Which one should you use?
While vì vậy is a standard way to say 'so', the word nên is much more common in everyday spoken Vietnamese. The phrase do đó is commonly used in formal situations and translates to 'therefore' or 'as a result'. Cho nên is a slightly more formal alternative to nên used to introduce a consequence. The expression Thế là is a colloquial expression used to mean 'so,' 'therefore,' or 'in that case'. The expression Suy cho cùng is a formal expression that means 'after all' or 'in the end'.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
vì vậy is a standard way to say 'so'. For more formal situations, use do đó (therefore/as a result) or cho nên (so/therefore). In everyday spoken Vietnamese, the word nên is much more common, while Thế là is a colloquial option for 'so,' 'therefore,' or 'in that case'.
How does it change in a sentence?
In many contexts, vì vậy and nên are paired together as vì vậy nên to strengthen the causal link between a reason and its result. Additionally, Vietnamese often uses a correlative structure where vì (because) starts the cause and nên (so) introduces the result, similar to the English 'Because X, Y happened'.
Did you know?
- In Vietnamese, it is common to use both vì (because) and nên (so) in the same sentence, whereas English speakers usually choose only one to avoid redundancy.
- The word vì in vì vậy is a non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of the Chinese character 爲, which also exists in Vietnamese as the more formal vị.
- The colloquial expression Thế là can function as 'so' but often carries a nuance of suddenness or a surprising turn of events.
Examples in context
- Nhà anh ấy không có chuông, vì vậy tôi đã gõ cửa.His house doesn't have a bell, so I knocked on the door.This sentence shows how to use vì vậy to explain why someone knocked on a door.Tatoeba #11314553 by chaule3, translation #11314552 by chaule3
- Tôi nhớ gia đình mình, vì vậy nên tôi đã quay trở lại.I missed my family, so I went back.This sentence uses vì vậy nên to link a feeling of missing family to the action of returning.Tatoeba #11271570 by chaule3, translation #1992074 by CM
- Tôi mất bằng lái xe, vì vậy tôi nhờ Tom đưa đi mua sắm.I lost my driver's license, so I asked Tom to take me shopping.This sentence demonstrates using vì vậy to explain the result of losing a driver's license.Tatoeba #10269093 by Alex_do, translation #9645409 by DJ_Saidez
- Sarah học hành chăm chỉ, do đó cô ấy đã vượt qua kỳ thi.Sarah studied hard, therefore, she passed the exam.
- Thời tiết đẹp, nên chúng ta đi dạo nhé.The weather is nice, so let's go for a walk.
- Xe buýt đã đi rồi, thế là chúng ta phải đi taxi.The bus left, so we had to take a taxi.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lan and Nam are deciding what to eat for dinner.
- LanTrời đang mưa, vì vậy chúng ta nên ở nhà.It is raining, so we should stay home.
- NamAnh cũng nghĩ như vậy.I think so too.
- LanVậy mình đặt đồ ăn về nhé?Should we order food then?
- NamĐược, anh sẽ chọn món.Okay, I will choose the dishes.
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (vì, vậy) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries vì, vì vậy, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
