# Hãy: do …! (firm) in Vietnamese (A2)

> Hãy before a verb gives a firm or formal instruction: Hãy chọn câu trả lời đúng. Choose the correct answer.

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/hay-imperative/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**do …! (firm)**

Pattern: `(person) + hãy + [verb] (+ đi)`

Level: A2 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: hay

*Hãy* before a verb gives a firm or formal instruction: *Hãy chọn câu trả lời đúng.* Choose the correct answer. You'll see it in instructions, on signs and in adverts, and hear it in speeches: *Hãy gọi cho chúng tôi ngay hôm nay!* Call us today!

With *chúng ta* in front it means "let us", the way a speaker addresses a crowd: *Chúng ta hãy cùng nhau cố gắng.* Let's all do our best together.

In conversation, *hãy* sounds stiff, like a teacher or a public notice. To ask a friend to sit down, say *Em ngồi đây đi* or *Em ngồi đây nha*, not *Em hãy ngồi đây*. People do use it when they want to sound serious, in a heartfelt plea: *Anh hãy nghe em nói.* Please, just listen to me.

So *hãy* is the written and public way to give a command. In everyday speech, *đi* at the end urges someone on, *nha* asks nicely (in Hà Nội, *nhé*), and *cứ* tells someone to go ahead without worrying.

## Examples

- Hãy chọn câu trả lời đúng. — Choose the correct answer.
- Hãy gọi cho chúng tôi ngay hôm nay! — Call us today!
- Chúng ta hãy cùng nhau cố gắng. — Let's all do our best together.
- Anh hãy nghe em nói. — Please, just listen to me.

## Words in this pattern

- [hãy](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/hay-urging/#s_hay_urging): urging

## Compare

- [Go on, do it / let's: verb + đi](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/di-urge/): do it! / let's
- [Go ahead, just keep on: cứ + verb](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/cu-go-ahead/): go ahead

Previous in Can, must, should, want: [Should: nên + verb](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/nen-should/)
Next in Can, must, should, want: [That's enough, never mind: Thôi!](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/thoi-enough/)

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