# Cuộc + word: an event / a session in Vietnamese (A2)

> Put cuộc before a verb and you get an event: something that happens, with people taking part.

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/cuoc-event-noun/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**an event / a session**

Pattern: `cuộc + [verb, adjective or noun] (cuộc họp, cuộc sống) · buổi + [noun or verb] (buổi họp)`

Level: A2 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: cuoc, buoi

Situations: [At work](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/?use=work)

Put *cuộc* before a verb and you get an event: something that happens, with people taking part. *Họp* (to meet) gives *cuộc họp*, a meeting; *thi* (to compete, to sit an exam) gives *cuộc thi*, a contest; *gọi* (to call) gives *cuộc gọi*, a phone call; *hẹn* (to arrange to meet) gives *cuộc hẹn*, an appointment or a date. *Cuộc sống* is life as you live it day to day; a person's whole life, from start to end, is *cuộc đời*.

*Buổi* is a part of the day. You know it from *buổi sáng*, *buổi chiều* and *buổi tối*. Before an activity, it's one session of it: *buổi học* (a class), *buổi họp* (a meeting), *buổi tiệc* (a party). It also counts sessions: *Tuần này em học ba buổi.* I've got three classes this week.

A few words take either. *Cuộc họp* sees the meeting as an event, *buổi họp* as a slot in your day; both are fine. A call or a contest is always *cuộc*, a class always *buổi*.

*Sự* also turns verbs into nouns, but for ideas rather than events; it has its own page.

## Examples

- Chiều nay anh có một cuộc họp. — I have a meeting this afternoon.
- Saigon: Hồi sáng em nhận được một cuộc gọi lạ. | Hà Nội: Sáng nay em nhận được một cuộc gọi lạ. — This morning I got a call from a number I didn't know.
- Cuộc sống ở Sài Gòn vui lắm. — Life in Saigon is a lot of fun.
- Mỗi tuần em học tiếng Việt hai buổi. — I have two Vietnamese classes a week.
- Buổi tiệc tối qua vui không em? — Was last night's party fun?

## Words in this pattern

- [buổi](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/buoi-part-of-day/#s_buoi_session): session

## Compare

- [Turning a verb or adjective into a noun: sự + word](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/su-nominal/): the … (abstract noun)
- [Which classifier: cái for things, con for animals, người for people, and the common others](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/clf-cai-chiec/): picking the classifier

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