Verb + direction: chạy ra, mang về, đứng lên

The direction words ra, vô, lên, xuống, về and qua can follow another verb to say which way the action goes: chạy ra (run out), đi vô (go in), đứng lên (stand up), ngồi xuống (sit down), nhìn lên (look up). They work like "out", "in", "up" and "down" after an English verb. In Hà Nội and in writing, vô is vào and qua is often sang: chạy vào, đi sang.

A place, if there is one, comes after the direction word: chạy ra đường (run out into the street), leo lên núi (climb up the mountain).

With verbs of carrying and sending, such as mang or đem (take, bring; đem is common in Saigon), đưa (take, hand) and gửi (send), the thing usually goes between the verb and the direction word: mang sách về nhà (take the books home), đem đồ vô nhà (bring the things inside), gửi tiền về quê (send money home to the family). That's the order to practise: verb, thing, direction, place.

Lên and xuống also say more and less: tăng lên (go up), giảm xuống (go down).