# Mất: gone, lost (after a verb) in Vietnamese (B1)

> After a verb, mất adds a sense of loss: something is gone, or it happened when you didn't want it to. Em quên mất! I completely forgot!

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/mat-after-verb/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**gone, lost (after a verb)**

Pattern: `[verb] + mất (+ rồi)`

Level: B1 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: mat

After a verb, *mất* adds a sense of loss: something is gone, or it happened when you didn't want it to. *Em quên mất!* I completely forgot! *Ai ăn mất cái bánh của em rồi?* Who's eaten my cake? You know *mất* as "to lose" and, with time, as "takes"; here it follows another verb.

Most often *rồi* comes after it, for something already gone: *Xe buýt chạy mất rồi.* The bus has left. *Cái áo đó bán mất rồi chị.* That shirt's already been sold. Without *rồi*, it can warn that a loss is coming if nobody hurries: *Nhanh lên, trễ mất!* Hurry, we'll be late! (in Hà Nội, *muộn mất*).

*Quên mất* is the one you'll use most. It's stronger and more apologetic than plain *quên*: *Chết, em quên mất!* Oh no, I totally forgot!

For losing something yourself, you can say *mất* on its own, *Em mất điện thoại rồi*, or *làm mất*, which makes clear it was your doing, even by accident: *Em làm mất chìa khóa rồi.* I've lost my key.

## Examples

- Chết, em quên mất! — Oh no, I completely forgot!
- Xe buýt chạy mất rồi. — The bus has already gone.
- Ai ăn mất cái bánh của em rồi? — Who's eaten my cake?
- Em làm mất chìa khóa rồi. — I've lost my key.

## Compare

- [It takes (time): mất](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/mat-time-takes/): it takes …

Previous in Words at the start and end of a sentence: [Besides, by the way: Mà … at the start](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/ma-initial-besides/)
Next in Words at the start and end of a sentence: [I told you! … mà at the end](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/ma-final-insist/)

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