# Kẻo: or else (something bad) in Vietnamese (A2)

> Kẻo means "or else": it follows a piece of advice and names the bad thing that will happen if you ignore it. Mặc áo khoác vô, kẻo lạnh.

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/keo-or-else/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**or else (something bad)**

Pattern: `[advice], kẻo + [bad result]`

Level: A2 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: keo

Saigon: không thôi; kẻo | Hà Nội: kẻo

Variants:

- không thì

*Kẻo* means "or else": it follows a piece of advice and names the bad thing that will happen if you ignore it. *Mặc áo khoác vô, kẻo lạnh.* Put a jacket on, or you'll get cold (in Hà Nội, *mặc áo khoác vào*). Advice first, then *kẻo* and the result.

What follows *kẻo* is always something to avoid: being late, getting wet, the food going cold. For a good result, use *để* (so that) instead.

*Kẻo* is understood everywhere, but in everyday Saigon speech people more often say *không thì* or *không thôi*: *Đi lẹ lên, không thôi trễ đó!* Hurry up, or we'll be late! *Không thì* is the plainest of these, and you'll hear it in Hà Nội too.

English "or" can't be translated word for word here. *Hoặc* offers two choices; it doesn't warn.

## A common mistake

✗ Đi lẹ lên, hoặc mình sẽ trễ.

✓ Đi lẹ lên, không thì mình trễ.

*Hoặc* offers two choices, like "or" in "tea or coffee". For a warning, "or else", use *không thì* or *kẻo*.

## Examples

- Saigon: Mặc áo khoác vô, kẻo lạnh. | Hà Nội: Mặc áo khoác vào, kẻo lạnh. — Put a jacket on, or you'll get cold.
- Saigon: Đi lẹ lên, không thôi trễ đó! | Hà Nội: Đi nhanh lên, kẻo muộn đấy! — Hurry up, or we'll be late!
- Saigon: Mang dù theo đi, không thì ướt hết. | Hà Nội: Mang ô theo đi, không thì ướt hết. — Take an umbrella, or you'll get soaked.
- Ăn đi con, kẻo nguội. — Eat up, or it'll get cold.

## Words in this pattern

- [kẻo](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/keo-otherwise/#s_keo_otherwise): otherwise

## Compare

- [Or in statements: A hoặc B](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/hoac-or/): A or B (statement)
- [In order to: để](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/de-purpose/): in order to / so that

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