Beginner · Unit 9 · B77

Chưa ăn / chưa đi / chưa làm — “Not yet” in daily life

Use chưa before everyday activities to show that an expected or relevant point has not been reached yet, contrast chưa with không, and answer ...chưa? questions compactly.

Beginner Unit 9 Lesson 77 of 107

What you will learn

Chưa appeared in B30 and again in chưa hiểu. B77 makes it practical across daily actions: chưa ăn, chưa đi, chưa làm.

1. Chưa + activity

Tôi chưa ăn.
Anh chưa đi.
Chị chưa làm.
Em chưa ngủ.

Chưa says that the relevant event or state has not been reached yet.

2. Chưa is not the same as không

Compare:

Tôi không ăn sáng. — I do not eat breakfast / I am not eating breakfast, depending on context.
Tôi chưa ăn sáng. — I have not eaten breakfast yet.

The second leaves the later event open and often expected.

3. Chưa đi vs không đi

Anh chưa đi. — he/I, as anh, has not left/gone yet.
Anh không đi. — he/I is not going / will not go, depending on context.

The difference matters in real plans.

4. Chưa làm vs không làm

Tôi chưa làm. — I have not done it yet.
Tôi không làm. — I do not do it / I will not do it, depending on context.

Chưa often keeps the possibility of doing it later alive.

5. ... chưa?

Ăn chưa?
Đi chưa?
Làm chưa?
Ngủ chưa?
Xong chưa?

These compact questions are extremely common because context supplies the missing information.

6. Answer with just chưa

Anh ăn chưa?

Chưa.

Or:

Chưa ăn.

A one-word answer can be completely sufficient.

7. Answer with rồi

Anh ăn chưa?

Ăn rồi.

Or simply:

Rồi.

The question and answer form a pair: expected point not reached yet vs reached already.

8. Đã...chưa? and the shorter form

Anh đã ăn chưa?
Anh ăn chưa?

Both occur. The shorter form is very common in ordinary conversation. Do not assume the longer form is automatically “more correct”.

9. Chưa + time context

Hôm nay tôi chưa ăn sáng.
Bây giờ anh chưa đi làm.
Tối nay em chưa biết ăn gì.

Time expressions and chưa work together. Vietnamese does not need to change the verb itself.

10. A short conversation

Mẹ: Con ăn chưa?

Con: Chưa ạ.

Mẹ: Sao chưa ăn?

Con: Con đang làm việc.

Mẹ: Làm xong chưa?

Con: Chưa xong. Khoảng mười phút nữa.

This revisits the daily chain from B75–B76.

11. “Ăn chưa?” can also show concern

Depending on relationship and situation, Ăn chưa? may be more than a factual meal question. It can also be a small act of concern or a way to open conversation.

Do not conclude that every use has exactly the same social meaning. Grammar and relationship work together.

12. Chưa can appear with states

Tôi chưa hiểu.
Tôi chưa biết.
Trời chưa tối.

So chưa is broader than “have not done an action yet”. The core idea is that a relevant point or state has not been reached.

13. Useful vocabulary

chưa — not yet / yet?
chưa ăn — have not eaten yet
chưa đi — have not gone/left yet
chưa làm — have not done it yet
chưa xong — not finished yet
không — general negation; not the same as chưa

14. Common beginner mistakes

Using không when the intended meaning is “not yet”.
Assuming chưa always describes the grammatical past.
Thinking đã...chưa? is required and the shorter question is incomplete.
Missing the social dimension of very compact questions such as Ăn chưa?.

Try it

Say that you have not eaten yet.
Say that you are not going, then say that you have not gone yet.
Ask whether someone has finished.
Answer with only chưa.

Quick recap

Chưa means that an expected or relevant point has not been reached yet. It differs from general negation with không, and it is central to natural everyday Vietnamese.

Explore & practice