# Đi đâu / đâu: where to? in Vietnamese (A1)

> When a verb of going is followed directly by the place, đâu takes the place's slot, with no ở: Anh đi đâu? Where are you going?

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/di-dau-where-to/ · Updated 2026-11-09

**where to?**

Pattern: `[person] + đi + đâu? · [thing] + đâu rồi? (where has it got to)`

Level: A1 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: di dau, dau

When a verb of going is followed directly by the place, *đâu* takes the place's slot, with no *ở*: *Anh đi đâu?* Where are you going? The same goes for *về* (go back), *tới* (come to), *lên* and *xuống* (go up, go down).

The answer shows why. You say *đi chợ* (go to the market), with no word for "to", so the question has none either. *Ở* means "at": it's for where someone is or where something happens, as in *Anh làm ở đâu?* Where do you work? So when *đi* comes before another verb (*đi học*, *đi làm*, *đi chơi*), *ở đâu* asks where that happens: *Em đi làm ở đâu?* Where do you work?

*Đi đâu vậy?* is also an everyday greeting when you see someone heading out. It's meant as a friendly hello rather than a real question, and a short answer is enough: *Đi chợ.*

In quick speech, a thing followed by *đâu* asks where it has got to: *Chìa khóa đâu rồi?* Where have the keys gone? *Điện thoại em đâu?* Where's my phone? To ask a stranger where something is, *ở đâu* is the safe choice: *Nhà vệ sinh ở đâu?* Where's the restroom?

After *không*, *đâu* means "anywhere": *Em không đi đâu.* I'm not going anywhere.

## A common mistake

✗ Anh đi ở đâu?

✓ Anh đi đâu?

When *đi*, *về* or *tới* is followed directly by the place, *đâu* takes the place's slot, with no *ở*. *Ở đâu* asks where someone is or where something happens.

## Examples

- Saigon: Em đi đâu vậy? | Hà Nội: Em đi đâu thế? — Where are you off to?
- Dạ, em đi chợ. — I'm going to the market.
- Cuối tuần này anh đi đâu? — Where are you going this weekend?
- Chìa khóa đâu rồi em? — Where have the keys gone?

## Words in this pattern

- [đâu](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/dau-where/#lx_dau): where

## Compare

- [Where? ở đâu at the end](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/o-dau-where/): where (location)?

Previous in Asking questions: [When? bao giờ / khi nào: first for the future, last for the past](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/bao-gio-when/)
Next in Asking questions: [Where? ở đâu at the end](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/o-dau-where/)

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