# Tại: at (written) in Vietnamese (A2)

> Tại means "at" or "in" a place, like ở, but it belongs to writing and formal speech: signs, notices, forms and the news. Vui lòng thanh toán tại quầy.

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/tai-at-formal/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**at (written)**

Pattern: `tại + [place]`

Level: A2 (our estimate) · Register: formal

Typed without accents: tai

Situations: [Shops and services](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/?use=service)

*Tại* means "at" or "in" a place, like *ở*, but it belongs to writing and formal speech: signs, notices, forms and the news. *Vui lòng thanh toán tại quầy.* Please pay at the counter. *Cấm hút thuốc tại đây.* No smoking here.

It goes where *ở* goes after a verb: right before the place, usually at the end of the sentence. In a CV or a formal introduction you'll read *Tôi sinh ra và lớn lên tại Đà Nẵng.* I was born and grew up in Đà Nẵng.

In conversation, people say *ở*. A few fixed phrases with *tại* are everyday, though, such as *tại chỗ* (on the spot): *Anh ăn tại chỗ hay mang về?* Eating in or taking away?

Unlike *ở*, *tại* can't be the verb itself. "I live in Saigon" is *Tôi ở Sài Gòn*, never *Tôi tại Sài Gòn*.

*Tại* also means "because", as in *tại vì*, and on its own it often puts the blame on someone: *Tại anh!* Only the place meaning is formal.

## Examples

- Vui lòng thanh toán tại quầy. — Please pay at the counter.
- Cấm hút thuốc tại đây. — No smoking here.
- Anh ăn tại chỗ hay mang về? — Are you eating in or taking it away?
- Tôi sinh ra và lớn lên tại Đà Nẵng. — I was born and grew up in Đà Nẵng.

## Words in this pattern

- [tại](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/tai-at/#s_tai_at): at

## Compare

- [At, in, live: ở](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/o-at/): be at / in
- [Because: vì / tại vì / bởi vì](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/vi-because/): because (of)

Previous in Places and movement: [According to, in my opinion: theo](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/theo-according/)
Next in Places and movement: [Beginning and end of: đầu / cuối + noun](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/dau-cuoi/)

---

Add to Vietnamese Buddy: https://app.vietnamesebuddy.com/waitlist?source=grammar%3Au_tai_at_formal
In the app, the grammar points from your own class material are kept with their status, and any word you meet while reading can go into your lexicon with its audio, ready to study.