# Ai: who? in Vietnamese (A1)

> Ai means "who". Like most question words, it stands where the answer will go. To ask who did something, ai comes first, because the person who did it…

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/ai-who/ · Updated 2026-11-09

**who?**

Pattern: `Ai + [verb]? · [person] + [verb] + ai? · [person] + là + ai? · Ai là + [person]?`

Level: A1 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

*Ai* means "who". Like most question words, it stands where the answer will go. To ask who did something, *ai* comes first, because the person who did it comes first in the answer too: *Ai gọi em?* Who called you? *Chị Lan gọi em.* Lan called me.

To ask who something is done to, *ai* goes after the verb: *Em chờ ai?* Who are you waiting for? *Em chờ ba.* I'm waiting for my dad. After *với* (with) or *cho* (for), it goes at the end in the same way: *Em đi với ai?* Who are you going with?

To ask who a person is, put *là ai* after them: *Người đó là ai?* Who is that? Turn it round, *Ai là …?*, and you ask which of several people it is: *Ai là anh Minh?* Which one of you is Minh? You ask that when you know the name but not the face.

For "whose", put *của ai* after the thing: *Cái này của ai?* Whose is this?

Not every *ai* asks a question. In a statement it means "anyone" or "everyone": *Ai cũng biết.* Everyone knows. *Không ai biết.* Nobody knows.

## A common mistake

✗ Ai em chờ?

✓ Em chờ ai?

When *ai* is the person something is done to, it stays after the verb, where the answer goes: *chờ ba*, so *chờ ai*.

## Examples

- Ai gọi em? — Who called you?
- Em chờ ai? — Who are you waiting for?
- Người đó là ai? — Who's that?
- Saigon: Dạ, đó là ba em. | Hà Nội: Dạ, đó là bố em. — That's my dad.
- Ai là anh Minh? — Which one of you is Minh?

## Words in this pattern

- [ai](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/ai-who/#lx_ai): who

## Compare

- [Whose? noun + của ai](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/cua-ai-whose/): whose …?

Previous in Asking questions: [Which? nào after the noun](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/nao-which/)
Next in Asking questions: [Whose? noun + của ai](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/cua-ai-whose/)

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