Lắm (Adv)

Situations

S: Hoa asked Lan: "Have you seen that film? Is it good?". Lan answered:

Tôi xem rồi. Phim đó hay lắm!
(Yes, I have. It is very good.)

In this situation, lắm expresses Lan's idea that the film is very good, better than other films.

Definition

Lắm, as an adverb which comes after the adjective or the verb, indicates that a characteristic, a quality, or a state is highly appreciated, or is better than usual, according to the speaker.

  • Lắm is classified with the words of degree: rất, quá, lắm, hơi, khá, etc. Of these, lắm and quá are frequently used in spoken Vietnamese. Cf. rất (p. 323), quá1 (p. 317).

  • Both lắm and quá are often used in spoken Vietnamese, but lắm usually appears in narrative or commentary sentences, while quá is often used in exclamatory sentences. Cf:

[1a] Mời bạn Tâm hát. Xin giới thiệu với các bạn, Tâm hát hay lắm!
     (Ms. Tâm, will you please sing a song? I would like to tell you all that Tâm sings very well.)

(Tam finished singing, Nam said:)

[1b] Tâm hát hay quá!
     (You sing very well!)

Combinations

  • không... lắm / không... cho lắm: The speaker uses this construction to soften a negative remark or attitude.
[1] Quyển từ điển này không tốt lắm.
    (This dictionary is not very good.)
[2] Chuyến du lịch tháng vừa rồi không vui cho lắm.
    (Last month's trip was not very enjoyable.)
  • ... cho lắm (vào), ... cho lắm để..., ... cho lắm để rồi...:
[6] Ho như thế mà hút thuốc cho lắm vào!
    (You are coughing like that, yet you smoke so much!)

(Used to criticize someone's fault; implies they should not smoke.)

[7] Làm cho lắm để kiếm vài trăm ngàn mỗi tháng!
    (Working so hard only to get several hundred thousand đồng a month!)

(Expresses a contrary result; implies the effort is not worth it.)

  • ... (cho) lắm thì cũng...: Expresses the maximum capability of someone, even if they keep trying to do better.
[8] Anh viết dài lắm thì cũng 8 điểm thôi.
    (No matter how much you write, you'll get only 8 points.)
[9] Em có hát hay cho lắm thì cũng không thể bằng ca sĩ được.
    (No matter how well you sing, you cannot do as well as a professional singer.)