At a time: lúc / vào lúc, vào + day

at / on (time)

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

A1 · estimate

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.

Examples

Highlighted words are what Saigon and Hà Nội say differently.

  • 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

Compare

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.