# Lại in Vietnamese (B1)

> You know lại after a verb for "again, over": nói lại, say it again. Before the verb, lại adds a feeling.

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/lai-before-verb/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**again / instead / contrary to expectation**

Pattern: `[person] + lại + [verb] · …, còn + [person] + lại + [verb]`

Level: B1 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: lai

You know *lại* after a verb for "again, over": *nói lại*, say it again. Before the verb, *lại* adds a feeling. Often it's "again" when you didn't want it: *Trời lại mưa rồi.* It's raining again. *Em lại quên chìa khóa nữa rồi.* I've forgotten my keys again.

It also marks something as unexpected, against what you'd think, like "and yet" or "of all people": *Nhà gần nhất mà anh ấy lại tới trễ nhất.* He lives closest, yet he's the last to arrive. After *còn*, it sets one person's choice against another's: *Em thích biển, còn anh Minh lại thích núi.* I love the beach, but Minh prefers the mountains.

In questions, *sao … lại* asks "why on earth": *Sao em lại khóc?* Why are you crying?

Watch the place. After the verb, *lại* means doing something over, usually on purpose. Before the verb, it means something happens again, or happens at all, when you didn't expect or want it.

## A common mistake

✗ Em quên lại chìa khóa rồi.

✓ Em lại quên chìa khóa rồi.

For something that happens again by itself, *lại* goes before the verb. After the verb it means doing something over, which makes no sense with *quên* (forget).

## Examples

- Trời lại mưa rồi. — It's raining again.
- Em lại quên chìa khóa nữa rồi. — I've forgotten my keys again.
- Saigon: Nhà gần nhất mà anh ấy lại tới trễ nhất. | Hà Nội: Nhà gần nhất mà anh ấy lại đến muộn nhất. — He lives closest, yet he's the last to arrive.
- Em thích biển, còn anh Minh lại thích núi. — I love the beach, but Minh prefers the mountains.

## Words in this pattern

- [lại](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/lai-again/#s_lai_instead): instead

## Compare

- [Again: verb + lại](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/lai-again/): again, re-
- [Why on earth? sao … lại](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/sao-lai-why-on-earth/): how come …?

Previous in Là, có, and how verbs work together: [Try doing: verb + thử (coi / xem)](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/thu-try/)
Next in Là, có, and how verbs work together: [Did it by mistake: lỡ / trót + verb](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/lo-by-mistake/)

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