# Adjectives need no là in Vietnamese (A1)

> In English an adjective needs "is", "am" or "are": "I am tired." In Vietnamese the adjective does that job by itself: Tôi mệt.

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/adj-no-la/ · Updated 2026-11-09

**no 'to be' before adjectives**

Pattern: `[person or thing] + (rất) + [adjective] · [person] + sắp / sẽ + [adjective] · [person] + đang + [passing state] · [adjective] + rồi`

Level: A1 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

In English an adjective needs "is", "am" or "are": "I am tired." In Vietnamese the adjective does that job by itself: *Tôi mệt.* So *mệt* means both "tired" and "be tired", and a person or thing plus an adjective is already a full sentence: *Phòng này rộng.* This room is big.

Because it works like a verb, an adjective takes the same words a verb does. *Không* in front makes it negative: *Món này không cay.* *Rất* before it, or *lắm* after it, makes it stronger: *rất cay*, *cay lắm*. *Có … không* asks about it, though the *có* is usually dropped: *Sài Gòn nóng không?* *Rồi* goes with it as with a verb: *Em đói rồi.* I'm hungry now. *Đang* works only for a passing state: *Em đang bận*, I'm busy right now, but not *Phòng này đang rộng*.

*Là* says what someone or something is, so a noun follows it: *Anh Minh là kỹ sư.* It doesn't go before a plain adjective, and neither does *không phải*, which also belongs with nouns. The negative of *rộng* is simply *không rộng*.

Right after a noun, an adjective usually describes it: *phòng rộng* is "a big room". Once the noun is closed off, for example with *này* (this), the adjective becomes the statement: *Phòng này rộng.*

You may meet *là* before an adjective in formal writing or for emphasis. That's a separate, later pattern.

## A common mistake

✗ Hôm nay tôi là mệt.

✓ Hôm nay tôi mệt.

*Mệt* already means "be tired", so it needs no *là*. *Là* says what someone is, with a noun after it.

## Examples

- Hôm nay em mệt. — I'm tired today.
- Phòng này rộng và sạch. — This room is big and clean.
- Món này không cay. — This dish isn't spicy.
- Sài Gòn nóng không anh? — Is it hot in Saigon?
- Anh Minh là kỹ sư. — Minh is an engineer.

## Compare

- [Is (a noun): là links two nouns](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/la-noun/): to be (+ noun)
- [là before an adjective for emphasis or in formal writing](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/la-adj-emphatic/): emphatic là + adjective
- [Describing words come after the noun: nhà lớn, not lớn nhà](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/adj-after-noun/): adjective after noun
- [Saying it is happening now: đang](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/dang-ongoing/): is doing
- [Already: … rồi, and Rồi as the yes to 'yet?'](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/roi-already/): already

Next in Là, có, and how verbs work together: [Again: verb + lại](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/lai-again/)

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