Làm xong rồi — Saying something is finished

What you will learn

B30 introduced rồi, chưa and xong. B76 now focuses on one very common daily pattern: làm xong rồi.

1. Xong — finished/completed

• làm xong — finish doing
• ăn xong — finish eating
• học xong — finish studying
• đọc xong — finish reading

Xong focuses on reaching the end of an activity.

2. Làm xong rồi

• Tôi làm xong rồi.
• Em học xong rồi.
• Anh ăn xong rồi.

The combination says that the activity has reached completion and that this completed state is relevant now.

3. Xong and rồi do different jobs

Compare the roles:

• làm xong — finish doing the work/activity
• xong rồi — it is finished now / done now
• làm xong rồi — have finished doing it / done with it now

They often work together, but they are not two copies of the same English word.

4. Làm xong chưa?

• Anh làm xong chưa?
• Em học xong chưa?
• Chị ăn xong chưa?

This asks whether the relevant activity has reached completion yet.

5. Natural short answers

Làm xong chưa?

• Xong rồi.
• Rồi.
• Chưa.
• Chưa xong.

Vietnamese often omits material that the question has already made clear.

6. Tôi làm rồi is different

Compare:

• Tôi làm rồi. — I did it / have done it.
• Tôi làm xong rồi. — I finished it / am done with it.

The second sentence explicitly emphasizes reaching the endpoint.

7. Xong rồi does not require đã

• Tôi làm xong rồi.
• Tôi đã làm xong rồi.

Both can occur. Do not add đã mechanically just because English uses a past or perfect form.

8. What happens after finishing?

• Ăn xong tôi đi làm.
• Làm xong tôi về nhà.
• Học xong em đi ngủ.

This gives a simple sequence: after one activity finishes, another follows. At this level you only need the practical pattern.

9. A short conversation

Lan: Anh làm xong chưa?

Minh: Chưa, anh đang làm.

Lan: Còn lâu không?

Minh: Khoảng mười phút nữa.

Lan: Xong rồi gọi em nhé.

Minh: Ừ.

The final nhé will be studied more systematically in Unit 10. Here it appears only as a natural preview.

10. Xong rồi as a standalone expression

In context, people may simply say:

• Xong rồi.
• Chưa xong.

The missing subject and activity are understood from the situation.

11. Rồi can mean more than completion

Remember B30:

• Trời tối rồi.
• Muộn rồi.

Here rồi signals a change or reached state, not “finished doing an activity”. That is why xong remains useful.

12. Useful vocabulary

• xong — finished/completed
• làm xong — finish doing
• ăn xong — finish eating
• học xong — finish studying
• chưa xong — not finished yet
• ... nữa — more/another, used here in a time estimate

13. Common beginner mistakes

• Treating xong and rồi as exact synonyms.
• Adding đã to every completed event.
• Thinking a full subject + verb answer is always required.
• Missing the stronger endpoint meaning in làm xong.

Try it

1. Say that you have finished eating.
2. Ask whether someone has finished working.
3. Answer “not finished yet”.
4. Say: after finishing work, you go home.

Quick recap

Xong marks the endpoint of an activity; rồi helps present the reached/completed state as relevant now. Together, làm xong rồi is one of the most useful daily patterns.