Lại (V)

Situations

S1: Tân drinks coffee with his friend. The post office is about 10 meters away. Tân wants to make a call; he says:

Xin lỗi, tôi lại bưu điện một chút.
(Excuse me, I'll go over to the post office for a moment.)

In this situation, the post office is near; therefore, lại is used to replace đi or đến.

S2: Mai and Lan are good friends. Mai invites Lan:

Chủ nhật, Lan lại nhà mình chơi nhé!
(Why don't you come over to my house this Sunday?)

In this situation, Mai's house is perhaps rather far but is considered familiar to Lan.

Definition

Lại, as a verb of movement, indicates movement in a sphere which is considered close, movement towards the speaker, or movement towards a place which is considered as belonging to oneself.

  • Lại belongs to the group of movement verbs: đi, đến, tới, về... It is unique in that it indicates movement within a nearby sphere, towards the speaker, or towards a familiar place.

Combinations

  • đi đi lại lại: Walk back and forth a short distance many times.
Nam chờ 15 phút rồi mà Lan chưa đến. Nam sốt ruột cứ đi đi lại lại.
(Nam has been waiting for 15 minutes but Lan hasn't come yet. Nam impatiently paces back and forth.)