Everyone, everything, always: ai cũng, gì cũng, lúc nào cũng

every- / any-

Pattern: Ai / [noun] nào + cũng + [verb] · [object] gì / nào + [person] + cũng + [verb] · Ở đâu / Bao giờ / Lúc nào + [person] + cũng + [verb]

A2 · estimate

Typed without accents: ai cung, nao cung, luc nao cung

A question word followed by cũng means "every-" or "any-": Ai cũng biết chị Lan. Everyone knows Lan. Món nào ở đây cũng ngon. Every dish here is good. Cũng goes straight before the verb or describing word, and the question word goes somewhere in front of it.

That means the question word moves. When it's the thing someone does something to, it comes to the front, before the person: Món nào em cũng thích. I like every dish. Time and place work the same way: Lúc nào ảnh cũng trễ. He's always late. Ở Sài Gòn, chỗ nào cũng có quán cà phê. In Saigon there are cafés everywhere. In Hà Nội, "always" is also bao giờ cũng.

With được (fine) after it, this is how you say "anything's fine": Ăn gì cũng được. Đi đâu cũng được, wherever you like.

In a có … không question the same words mean "any" (có ai … không?, anyone?), and with không before the verb they mean "no-": không ai biết, nobody knows. For a firmer "any … at all", bất cứ comes later.

Examples

Highlighted words are what Saigon and Hà Nội say differently.

  • Ai cũng biết chị Lan.

    Everyone knows Lan.

  • Món nào ở đây cũng ngon.

    Every dish here is good.

  • Saigon

    Lúc nào ảnh cũng trễ.

    Hà Nội

    Lúc nào anh ấy cũng muộn.

    He's always late.

  • Ăn gì cũng được.

    Anything's fine with me.

Compare

Variant of

Join the waitlist

Vietnamese Buddy is invite-only for now. Leave your email and we’ll write to you when accounts open.

Already invited? Sign in

We email you once to confirm your address and once when accounts open — nothing else.