Give someone something: cho / tặng + person + thing

With cho (give), the person comes first and the thing second, with nothing between them: Chị cho em cái này. I'm giving you this. English says "give it to you"; Vietnamese needs no "to".

A few other verbs of giving work the same way: tặng (give as a present), trả (give back, pay) and biếu (give politely to someone older): Em tặng má cái áo dài mới. I gave Mum a new áo dài. Mai anh trả em tiền nha. I'll pay you back tomorrow.

With tặng, trả and biếu you can also put the thing first and the person after cho: Em tặng hoa cho chị. That second order is the one most other verbs use, such as gửi (send) and mua (buy). With cho itself, keep the person first.

You already use this verb when you order: Cho em hai ly trà đá. There you're the one receiving, so your own word comes straight after cho. And when cho + person is followed by a verb, it means "let": Cho em đi với. Let me come too.