# Adjective + ra: become more / less in Vietnamese (A2)

> To say something is getting bigger, hotter or thinner, put a direction word after the adjective.

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/adj-change-ra-di/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**become more / less …**

Pattern: `[adjective] + ra / lên (more) · [adjective] + đi / lại (less)`

Level: A2 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: ra, di, lai

To say something is getting bigger, hotter or thinner, put a direction word after the adjective. *Lên* (up) and *ra* (out) say it's growing: *Trời nóng lên rồi.* It's getting hotter. *Dạo này chị khỏe ra nhiều.* You've got much healthier lately. *Đi* (away) and *lại* (back) say it's shrinking or slowing: *Ông ngoại yếu đi nhiều.* Grandpa has got a lot weaker.

Roughly, *lên* goes with rising and growing (*lớn lên*, grow up; *cao lên*, get taller), *ra* with filling out or looking better (*mập ra*, put on weight; *trẻ ra*, look younger), *đi* with losing something (*ốm đi*, get thinner; *già đi*, get older; *xấu đi*, get worse) and *lại* with drawing in (*chậm lại*, slow down; *ngắn lại*, get shorter).

Many pairs are fixed by habit, so learn them as you meet them. A few take either word: *mập ra* and *mập lên* both mean putting on weight.

In the South *ốm* means thin, so *ốm đi* is "get thinner". In Hà Nội that's *gầy đi*, and putting on weight is *béo ra*.

English "get" or "become" needs no word of its own here: the direction word already says it's changing.

## Examples

- Trời nóng lên rồi. — It's getting hotter.
- Dạo này chị khỏe ra nhiều. — You've got much healthier lately.
- Saigon: Mấy tháng nay em ốm đi ba ký. | Hà Nội: Mấy tháng nay em gầy đi ba cân. — I've lost three kilos in the last few months.
- Saigon: Anh chạy chậm lại chút nha. | Hà Nội: Anh đi chậm lại một chút nhé. — Slow down a little, OK?
- Em lớn lên ở Cần Thơ. — I grew up in Cần Thơ.

## Words in this pattern

- [đi](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/di-go/#s_di_less): getting less
- [ra](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/ra-go-out/#s_ra_become): become

## Compare

- [Moving in a direction: ra, vô / vào, lên, xuống, về, qua, tới](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/direction-verbs/): out / in / up / down / back / across / to
- [Verb + direction: chạy ra, mang về, đứng lên](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/v-direction-complement/): motion verb + direction

Previous in How much, and comparing: [Fairly, it's OK: cũng + adjective](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/cung-fairly-ok/)
Next in How much, and comparing: [No preposition after some adjectives: giỏi toán, gần nhà](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/adj-object/)

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