How To Say Positions & Directions In Vietnamese?

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In this post, we will be discussing 12 essential words in Vietnamese that will help you express different positions accurately. Vietnamese is a beautiful and complex language, and learning the correct vocabulary to describe positions can greatly enhance your communication abilities. Whether you’re a beginner or an intermediate learner, this post will provide you with valuable insights and practical tips to improve your Vietnamese language skills. So, let’s start mastering those 12 words!

Syntax When Expressing Positions In Vietnamese #

First of all, let’s learn the basic rules how to use positions in Vietnamese. In general, there are 2 main patterns to use the position words in Vietnamese as follows.

affirmative sentences
interrogative sentences

In order to learn more about the practical way to use them, let’s take a look at the 2 main patterns.

Positions In Vietnamese : Affirmative Sentence #

Alt text — positions in vietnamese - affirmative sentence

As you can see the attched image, we use the position words with the following format.

Subject + ở (phía/bên)+ positions + object

As you can see, the word “phía/bên” is optional depending on the context. “Phía” and “bên” can be translated as “side” in English, you can use the word if you want to emphasize something is on the side.

“Ở” is a preposition in Vietnamese that indicates location or position. It is often translated to mean “at, in, on” in English.

Positions In Vietnamese : Interrogative Sentence #

When it comes to using “position” words in Vietnamese in an interrogative sentences, you need to follow this format as it attached image.

Sentence + ở + đâu?

“đâu” is an interrogative word that means “where”. It is often used to ask about the location or position of someone or something.

12 Important Expressions Of Positions In Vietnamese #

So we have leart how to use the position words in Vietnamese. Next, let’s take a deeper look at each position words.

Positions In Vietnamese : Above(trên) #

Quả táo ở phía trên chiếc hộp.
The apple is on the box.

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Positions In Vietnamese : Below(dưới) #

Quả táo ở dưới chiếc hộp.
The apple is under the box.

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Positions In Vietnamese : Left(trái) #

Quả táo ở bên trái chiếc hộp.
The apple is on the left side of the box.

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As for the left or right, you need to say “ở bên trái/phải”. “bên” means “side” in English.

Positions In Vietnamese : Right(phải) #

Quả táo ở bên phải chiếc hộp.
The apple is on the right side of the box.

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As for the left or right, you need to say “ở bên trái/phải”. “bên” means “side” in English.

Positions In Vietnamese : Inside(trong) #

Quả táo ở trong chiếc hộp.
The apple is in the box.

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Positions In Vietnamese : Outside(ngoài) #

Quả táo ở ngoài chiếc hộp.
The apple is outside the box.

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Positions In Vietnamese : Around(xung quanh) #

Những quả táo ở xung quanh chiếc hộp.
Many apples are around the box.

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Positions In Vietnamese : Near(gần) #

Quả táo ở gần chiếc hộp.
The apple is near the box.

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Positions In Vietnamese : Between(giữa) #

Chiếc hộp ở giữa hai quả táo.
The box is between two apples.

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Positions In Vietnamese : Beside(bên cạnh) #

Quả táo ở bên cạnh chiếc hộp.
The apple is beside the box.

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Positions In Vietnamese : In front of(trước) #

Quả táo ở phía trước chiếc hộp.
The apple is in front of the box.

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Positions In Vietnamese : Behind(sau) #

Quả táo ở phía sau chiếc hộp.
The apple is behind the box.

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How to say “directions” in Vietnamese? #

It’s also useful to know some vocabularies related to “directions(phương hướng)” in Vientamese. So let’s take a look at how to say directions in Vietnamese.

Vietnamese	meaning
Bắc	north
Bắc đông bắc	north-northeast
Đông bắc	north-east
Đông đông bắc	east-northeast
Đông	east
Đông đông nam	east-southeast
Đông nam	south-east
Nam đông nam	south-southeast
Nam	south
Nam tây nam	south-southwest
Tây nam	south-west
Tây nam tây	west-southwest
Tây	west
Tây bắc tây	west-northwest
Tây bắc	north-west
Bắc tây bắc	north-northwest

When it comes to the directions, it’s the same principles like other languages. So it’s not so difficult to remember once you get used to.

Let’s take a look at the examples for each directions in Vietnamese.

Anh ấy đã gặp tai nạn ở địa điểm cách trung tâm Đà nẵng 10km về phía bắc.
He got a car accident at the point of 10km apart from the center of Da nang.

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Đông là hướng mặt trời mọc vào buổi sáng.
East is the direction where the sun rises in the morning.

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Nam là hướng mà ngôi nhà của tôi đang hướng tới.
South is the direction that my house is facing.

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Tây là hướng mặt trời lặn vào buổi tối.
West is the direction where the sun sets in the evening.

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Conclusion #

If you know how to say positions and directions in Vietnamese, you would be able to speak vietnamese more comfortably. So let’s repeat and master how to say positions in Vietnamese!

About me #

Thank you so much for reading my contents! I hope you like my contents and follow me on Youtube:)

I am living in Vietnam, Danang.
Passionate mobile app/web developer.
After working in Japan for a couple of years, I moved to Vietnam, Da Nang.
I love tech, Vietnamese and contents creating