How to Say "Where" in Vietnamese

ở đâu

[ʔəː˧˩ ʔɗəw˧˧]

The English word "where" is translated into Vietnamese as ở đâu.

The phrase ở đâu is used to ask about a physical location or a point of origin.

Meaning: at or in what place (adv)

What does it mean word for word?

The phrase consists of ở, meaning to be at or in and đâu, meaning where or anywhere.

In Vietnamese, the question word ở đâu typically follows the subject rather than preceding it as in English.

In Vietnamese, the word đâu can be used at the end of a sentence to create a strong negation or a rhetorical 'no way', rather than asking a location.
While ở đâu sounds similar to the Chinese character 於, they are not actually related. Linguists consider them false cognates because their tones and original meanings do not match.
The word đâu is pronounced differently in Northern and Southern dialects even though the spelling is identical.

Vấn đề ở đâu
Where is the problem?
This example shows how to use ở đâu to ask about the location of a problem.
Tatoeba #12538152 by thanhcona40, translation #1431 by Zifre
Đấy là ở đâu?
Where is that?
This example demonstrates using ở đâu to ask for the location of a specific thing.
Tatoeba #13896363 by leucammieuvu, translation #2254573 by CK
Quê bạn ở đâu?
Where is your hometown?
This example shows how to use ở đâu to ask about someone's hometown.
Tatoeba #10280519 by Alex_do, translation #13723939 by an_hien
Xin hỏi quán cà phê nổi tiếng ở đâu?
May I ask where the famous coffee shop is?
124 more sentences on Tatoeba

Hung is looking for his phone in the living room.

Sources

Wiktionary, “where” translations and entries ở đâu, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
Word origins: Wiktionary entries đâu, ở, ở đâu, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.

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