At (formal): tại

at (written)

Pattern: tại + [place]

A2 · estimateformalShops and services

Typed without accents: tai

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

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