Đấy (Par)

Situations

S1: Tân is writing a letter. His wife asks him:

Anh viết thư cho ai đấy?
(Who are you writing to?)

Đấy in this situation is used to ask about the thing which is happening at the moment of speaking.

S2: Seeing a very beautiful girl, Nam asked Bình: "Who is she?". Bình answered:

[1] Cô ấy là thư ký mới đấy.
    (She is the new secretary.)
[2] Cô ấy là con gái ông giám đốc đấy.
    (She is the daughter of the director.)

Đấy in [1] is used to emphasize the reality of what is mentioned. In [2] it is used to remind or warn.

S3: Tân had finished washing clothes. His wife looked at the clothes and said:

Anh giặt sạch rồi đấy. Nghỉ tay một chút đi!
(They're clean already. Take a rest!)

Đấy in this situation expresses the reality of the thing which has just been mentioned. It is often used to evaluate or assess something.

Definition

Đấy, as a particle, is placed at the end of the sentence or at the end of a part of the sentence. It is used to express the reality of the thing which has just been mentioned in order to ask (S1), or to remind, warn (S2), or to evaluate or assess (S3).

  • To show the reality of something that is happening, we can use the particles thế, vậy, đó.
[1] Anh đọc gì đấy / đó / thế / vậy?
    (What are you reading?)

(I can see it now. It can be near or far from the speaker.) Cf. thế1 (p. 359), vậy1 (p. 407).

  • thế / vậy cannot replace đấy / đó to indicate warning or to assess. Ex.:
[2] Cô ấy có chồng rồi đấy / đó / *thế / *vậy.
    (She is already married.)

(Do not do anything inappropriate to her.)