À (Par.)

Situations

S1: Nam and Hà have been swimming for an hour. Hà looks tired. Nam says:

Anh mệt rồi à?
(You are tired, aren't you?)

In this situation, Nam wants to verify his observation (that Hà is tired), so he uses à at the end of the question.

S2: Every morning, when seeing Tom get on his bike to go to work, the hostess asks:

Anh đi làm à?
(You are going to work, right?)

In this situation, the hostess does not wait for an answer from Tom. She just wants to express interest in Tom.

Definition

À, as a particle, placed at the end of a question, is used to ask for more information about something that the speaker is observing (based on certain evidence). This particle is also often used in spoken language to express concern for or interest in the listener.

  • À and hả can be used interchangeably. However, hả is particularly used to ask for more information about something that is unclear to the speaker.
  • À, nhỉ, nhé, chứ, ư, etc., belong to the final sentence particle group, but they connote different meanings.