# Mất + time: it takes in Vietnamese (A1)

> When you talk about time, mất means "takes". The trip or the task comes first, then mất, then the time: Đi Vũng Tàu mất hai tiếng.

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/mat-time-takes/ · Updated 2026-11-09

**it takes …**

Pattern: `[trip or task] + mất + [time] · [person] + mất + [time] + (để) + [verb] · … mất bao lâu?`

Level: A1 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: mat

Variants:

- hết bao lâu

When you talk about time, *mất* means "takes". The trip or the task comes first, then *mất*, then the time: *Đi Vũng Tàu mất hai tiếng.* It takes two hours to get to Vũng Tàu. There's no word for "it": the trip itself starts the sentence. A person can also start it, with the task after the time: *Em mất hai tiếng để làm xong.* It took me two hours to finish.

To ask, put *bao lâu* after *mất*: *Từ đây ra sân bay mất bao lâu?* How long does it take from here to the airport? The answer can be *mất* and the time, or the time alone: *Mất ba mươi phút.* *Khoảng ba mươi phút.*

The way you travel goes into the trip: *Đi xe máy mất mười phút, đi bộ mất nửa tiếng.* Ten minutes by motorbike, half an hour on foot. *Hết* works the same way in speech: *Sửa xe hết bao lâu?*

*Mất* also means "to lose" (*mất điện thoại*, lose your phone), and with money it means "to cost". Said of a person, it is the polite way to say someone died: *Ông tôi mất rồi.* My grandfather has passed away. With a length of time after it, it means "takes". For how long something lasts, rather than how long it takes, use *bao lâu* on its own: *Anh ở đây bao lâu?*

## A common mistake

✗ Đi Vũng Tàu lấy hai tiếng.

✓ Đi Vũng Tàu mất hai tiếng.

English "take" becomes *mất* when it's about time. *Lấy* means taking hold of something.

## Examples

- Đi Vũng Tàu mất bao lâu? — How long does it take to get to Vũng Tàu?
- Mất khoảng hai tiếng. — About two hours.
- Từ đây ra sân bay mất ba mươi phút. — It's thirty minutes from here to the airport.
- Nấu món này mất bao lâu? — How long does this dish take to cook?

## Words in this pattern

- [mất](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/mat-take/#lx_mat_take): take

## Compare

- [How long? bao lâu after the verb](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/bao-lau-how-long/): how long (duration)?

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