# Như: as / as if in Vietnamese (B1)

> Như means "like" or "as". Before a whole sentence, it says something happens in the same way as something else: Em làm đúng như chị chỉ.

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/nhu-as/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**as / as if**

Pattern: `[verb] + như + [sentence] · Như + [sentence], …`

Level: B1 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: nhu

Situations: [At work](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/?use=work)

*Như* means "like" or "as". Before a whole sentence, it says something happens in the same way as something else: *Em làm đúng như chị chỉ.* I did it just the way you showed me. *Mọi chuyện đúng như anh nói.* Everything was exactly as you said. *Đúng* (exactly) often comes in front.

Some short phrases with *như* are everyday at work and in emails: *như anh biết* (as you know), *như đã hứa* (as promised), *như mọi khi* (as usual): *Như anh biết, tháng sau công ty chuyển văn phòng.* As you know, the company's moving offices next month.

After *làm* (do, act), *như* means "as if": *Anh ấy làm như không biết gì hết.* He's acting as if he knows nothing.

You know *như* in comparisons after an adjective: *đẹp như hoa*, as pretty as a flower. Here a whole sentence follows it instead. And *như vậy* (like that) points back to something already said, rather than spelling it out again.

## Examples

- Em làm đúng như chị chỉ rồi. — I did it exactly the way you showed me.
- Mọi chuyện đúng như anh nói. — Everything was exactly as you said.
- Như anh biết, tháng sau công ty chuyển văn phòng. — As you know, the company is moving offices next month.
- Saigon: Anh ấy làm như không biết gì hết. | Hà Nội: Anh ấy làm như không biết gì cả. — He's acting as if he doesn't know anything.

## Words in this pattern

- [như](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/nhu-like/#s_nhu_like): like

## Compare

- [Like that, so: như vậy / như thế](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/nhu-vay-like-that/): like that / so
- [As … as: bằng / như](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/bang-nhu-as-as/): as … as
- [As a …: là + noun phrase, then the sentence](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/la-as-a/): as (being) a …

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Next in Linking ideas: [Depending on: tùy (theo), tùy vào](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/tuy-theo/)

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