# Lúc / vào: at / on (time) in Vietnamese (A1)

> For a clock time, "at" is lúc: lúc bảy giờ, at seven. For a day, a date, a month or a year, "on" or "in" is vào: vào thứ hai (on Monday), vào ngày mười…

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/vao-luc-at-time/ · Updated 2026-11-10

**at / on (time)**

Pattern: `lúc / vào lúc + [clock time] · vào + [day or date] · [verb] + lúc + [clock time] (end of sentence)`

Level: A1 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: luc, vao

For a clock time, "at" is *lúc*: *lúc bảy giờ*, at seven. For a day, a date, a month or a year, "on" or "in" is *vào*: *vào thứ hai* (on Monday), *vào ngày mười* (on the 10th), *vào tháng tư* (in April). *Vào lúc* is a more formal *lúc*, common in announcements and writing.

Where the time goes decides whether you need them. At the start of the sentence, they're usually left out: *Bảy giờ tôi đi làm.* At the end, they're usually kept: *Tôi đi làm lúc bảy giờ.*

To ask what time something happened, put *lúc mấy giờ* at the end: *Anh tới lúc mấy giờ?* What time did you get here?

Don't use *ở* before a clock time or a day.

*Lúc* can also take a whole sentence, like English "when": *Lúc em tới, anh đang ăn cơm.* When I arrived, you were eating. *Lúc đó* means "at that time", and *lúc nào* asks "when?". *Khi* is another "when", a little more formal on its own, though *khi nào?* (when?) is everyday speech.

## A common mistake

✗ Phim bắt đầu ở tám giờ.

✓ Phim bắt đầu lúc tám giờ.

Before a clock time, "at" is *lúc*, not *ở*.

## Examples

- Tôi đi làm lúc bảy giờ sáng. — I leave for work at seven in the morning.
- Saigon: Anh tới lúc mấy giờ? | Hà Nội: Anh đến lúc mấy giờ? — What time did you get here?
- Lớp tiếng Việt bắt đầu vào thứ hai. — Vietnamese class starts on Monday.
- Lúc đó tôi ở Hà Nội. — At that time I was in Hà Nội.

## Words in this pattern

- [lúc](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/luc-at/#s_luc_at): at
- [vào](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/vao-on/#s_vao_on): on

## Compare

- [When: khi … (thì)](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/khi-when/): when (+ sentence)
- [Time words go first: Hôm nay tôi đi làm](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/time-before-verb/): time at the start
- [At what time? mấy giờ, first or last](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/may-gio-what-time/): what time …?

Previous in Time and when things happen: [Already: … rồi, and Rồi as the yes to 'yet?'](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/roi-already/)
Next in Time and when things happen: [Clock time, then part of the day: 7 giờ tối](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/clock-then-part-of-day/)

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