Rồi và chưa — Has it happened yet?

What you will learn

Rồi and chưa are essential everyday Vietnamese words. They help speakers talk about whether something has happened, changed or reached a relevant point.

They are especially useful because Vietnamese often cares about completion and current relevance, not just a grammatical past tense.

1. ... rồi — already / now completed

• Tôi ăn rồi. — I have eaten / I already ate.
• Anh về rồi. — I have gone home / I’m home now, depending on context.
• Chị biết rồi. — I know now / I already know.

Rồi often appears after the verb or phrase.

2. ... chưa? — yet?

One of the most useful question patterns in Vietnamese is:

Verb + chưa?

• Ăn chưa? — Have you eaten yet?
• Anh ăn chưa?
• Chị về chưa? — Have you gone home/returned yet?
• Em làm xong chưa? — Have you finished yet?

3. Positive answer: rồi

Anh ăn chưa?

Ăn rồi.

Or:

Rồi.

The verb can disappear because the question already provides it.

4. Negative answer: chưa

Anh ăn chưa?

Chưa.

Or:

Chưa ăn.

Chưa means “not yet” in this pattern. It implies that the action remains possible or expected later.

5. Không and chưa are not the same

Compare:

• Tôi không ăn. — I don’t eat / I am not eating, depending on context.
• Tôi chưa ăn. — I haven’t eaten yet.

Không negates. Chưa says the expected/relevant point has not been reached yet.

6. Đã... chưa?

You may also hear:

• Anh đã ăn chưa?
• Chị đã đi chưa?

The shorter Anh ăn chưa? is extremely common in everyday speech. Beginners should recognize both.

7. Rồi can signal a change of state

• Trời tối rồi. — It is dark now / It has become dark.
• Muộn rồi. — It’s late now.
• Được rồi. — Okay / That’s enough / All right now, depending on context.

This is why translating rồi only as English “already” is too narrow.

8. A short conversation

Mẹ: Ăn cơm chưa?

Con: Chưa ạ.

Mẹ: Sao chưa ăn?

Con: Con đang làm việc.

Mẹ: Làm xong chưa?

Con: Sắp xong rồi.

9. “Ăn cơm chưa?” can also be social

You saw earlier that Ăn cơm chưa? can function as more than a literal information request. Depending on relationship and setting, it may also be a friendly way of showing concern or opening contact.

The grammar and the social function coexist.

10. Rồi and đã can appear together

You may hear sentences such as:

Tôi đã ăn rồi.

This can strongly present the action as having happened and now being complete/relevant. Beginners do not need a complete aspect theory yet; just recognize that đã and rồi are not interchangeable copies of one English tense.

11. Useful vocabulary

• rồi — already/now/completed/change-of-state, depending on context
• chưa — not yet / yet?
• xong — finished
• làm xong — finish doing
• sắp — about to / soon
• muộn — late
• tối — dark/evening, depending on context

12. Vietnam in real life

... chưa? questions are everywhere in Vietnamese: ăn chưa, về chưa, ngủ chưa, xong chưa, có chưa. They are compact because Vietnamese conversation often focuses on whether an expected event has reached completion.

13. Common beginner mistakes

• Using không when you really mean “not yet”.
• Translating every rồi as “already”.
• Thinking đã and rồi are simply two words for English past tense.

Try it

1. Ask “Have you eaten yet?”
2. Answer positively with rồi.
3. Answer negatively with chưa.
4. Explain the difference between không ăn and chưa ăn.
5. Use rồi in a change-of-state sentence such as “It’s late now.”

Quick recap

Chưa asks or says whether an expected point has been reached; rồi often marks completion or a new state. Together they form one of the most useful everyday Vietnamese patterns.