# Chính / chính là: it was X who / the very in Vietnamese

> Chính points at one person or thing and says "this one, and no other": Chính anh ấy nói với tôi. He told me himself.

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/chinh-very/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**it was X who / the very**

Pattern: `Chính + [person] + [verb] · [X] + chính là + [Y] · Chính + [X] + là + [noun] + (mà) …`

Level: A2 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: chinh, chinh la

*Chính* points at one person or thing and says "this one, and no other": *Chính anh ấy nói với tôi.* He told me himself. English uses stress, "himself" or "it was … who"; Vietnamese puts *chính* in front of the one it means.

At the start of a sentence, it picks out who did something: *Chính chị Lan giới thiệu em vô công ty này.* It was Lan who got me into this company (in Hà Nội, *vào*). To say "you're the one who …", add *là người*: *Chính chị là người giúp em nhiều nhất.*

*Chính là* means "is exactly, is none other than": *Đây chính là quán phở em kể với anh.* This is the very phở place I told you about. Before a reason, *chính vì* means "precisely because": *Chính vì vậy em mới học tiếng Việt.* That's exactly why I'm learning Vietnamese.

*Ngay cả … cũng* (even) is different: it adds someone surprising, while *chính* singles one out. *Ngay cả anh Minh cũng không biết* means even Minh doesn't know; *Chính anh Minh nói* means it was Minh who said it.

After a noun, *chính* means "main": *cửa chính* (the main door), *món chính* (the main course).

## Examples

- Chính anh ấy nói với tôi. — He told me himself.
- Đây chính là quán phở em kể với anh. — This is the very phở place I told you about.
- Chính vì vậy em mới học tiếng Việt. — That's exactly why I'm learning Vietnamese.
- Chính chị là người giúp em nhiều nhất. — You're the one who's helped me most.

## Words in this pattern

- [chính](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/chinh-main/#s_chinh_exactly): exactly

## Compare

- [Even X: (ngay) cả … cũng](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/ngay-ca-even/): even

Previous in Là, có, and how verbs work together: [That (after say, think): rằng / là](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/rang-la-that/)
Next in Là, có, and how verbs work together: [To or for someone: verb + thing + cho + person](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/cho-to-for/)

---

Add to Vietnamese Buddy: https://app.vietnamesebuddy.com/waitlist?source=grammar%3Au_chinh_very
In the app, the grammar points from your own class material are kept with their status, and any word you meet while reading can go into your lexicon with its audio, ready to study.