# Nơi: where (relative) in Vietnamese (B1)

> Nơi means "place", and it also works like English "where" in "the town where I grew up".

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/noi-where-relative/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**where (relative)**

Pattern: `[place noun] + nơi (mà) + [sentence] · [verb] + (ở / đến) nơi + [sentence]`

Level: B1 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: noi

*Nơi* means "place", and it also works like English "where" in "the town where I grew up". Put it after the place noun, then the sentence that describes the place: *Đây là thành phố nơi em lớn lên.* This is the city where I grew up. *Mà* can follow it for a little more weight: *nơi mà em lớn lên*.

*Nơi* can also stand without another place noun, meaning "a place" or "somewhere": *Em muốn sống ở một nơi gần biển.* I want to live somewhere near the sea. *Hội An là nơi em thích nhất.* Hội An is the place I like best.

*Nơi* sounds a little careful, and it's the usual choice in writing. In everyday speech people more often say *chỗ* (spot, place): *Đây là chỗ em làm việc.* This is where I work. Or they put the describing sentence straight after the noun: *quán em hay ăn*, the place I often eat at.

For "the day when" or "the time when", Vietnamese uses a time noun with *mà* or *khi*; that's its own pattern.

## A common mistake

✗ Đây là thành phố ở đâu em lớn lên.

✓ Đây là thành phố nơi em lớn lên.

*Ở đâu* only asks a question. To describe a place, use *nơi*, or *chỗ* in speech.

## Examples

- Đây là thành phố nơi em lớn lên. — This is the city where I grew up.
- Em muốn sống ở một nơi gần biển. — I want to live somewhere near the sea.
- Hội An là nơi em thích nhất. — Hội An is the place I like best.
- Đây là chỗ em làm việc. — This is where I work.

## Words in this pattern

- [nơi](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/noi-place/#s_noi_place): place

## Compare

- [Which, that (the noun as object): noun + mà + sentence](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/relative-ma/): which / that / who(m)
- [The day when, the reason why: noun + mà, khi, vì sao](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/khi-ma-when-relative/): when / why (after a noun)

Previous in Things, counting and numbers: [Twice as, three times as: gấp đôi, gấp ba](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/gap-doi-times/)
Next in Things, counting and numbers: [Emotional cái in front of a noun](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/cai-emphatic/)

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