Luôn (Adv 1)

Situations

S1: Nam comes to see Hà three or four times a month. If he is busy, he comes to see her at least once.

[1a] Nam đến thăm Hà luôn.
[1b] Nam luôn đến thăm Hà.
     (Nam often comes to see Hà.)

In this situation, the fact that Nam comes to see Hà is regular and repeated.

S2: Tân asked Hà: "Do you often see Nam these days?". Hà answered:

Trước Tết em gặp Nam luôn.
(Before Tết, I met Nam very often.)

In this situation, Hà usually met Nam many times before Tết.

S3: At last night's birthday party, Thu Thủy sang a very nice song. Her friends asked her to sing more. She was so happy that she sang three songs.

Tối hôm qua Thu Thủy rất vui nên hát luôn ba bài.
(Last night, Thu Thủy was so happy that she sang three songs in a row.)

Thu Thủy sang three consecutive songs, almost without interruption.

S4: Nam received a letter from Hà. He wrote back immediately after he had read it.

Đọc thư xong, Nam trả lời luôn.
(Having read Hà's letter, Nam replied at once.)

Luôn in this situation indicates the immediate succession of the two actions (đọc and trả lời).

S5: Thủy and Hà went to the market. Thủy looked at a shirt and asked Hà's opinion. Hà said:

Áo đẹp đấy! Mua luôn đi!
(It's nice! Don't think any more, buy it now!)

In this situation, Hà thinks that Thủy can buy that shirt without looking further or hesitating.

Definition

Luôn, as an adverb placed before or after the verb, expresses an action that occurs regularly, continuously, or almost continuously in a given period of time. Luôn also expresses an action that happens immediately after another action without any interruption.

  • liền and thường / hay / hoài: To express repetition or high frequency, we can use thường, hay, thường xuyên, thường hay, hoài (usually) to replace luôn (luôn / luôn luôn are adverbs indicating the highest frequency). These words are antonyms of thỉnh thoảng (sometimes), ít khi (rarely), etc.
[1a] Họ viết thư cho nhau luôn.
[1b] Họ luôn viết thư cho nhau.
[1c] Họ luôn luôn viết thư cho nhau.
[1d] Họ thường viết thư cho nhau.
[1e] Họ viết thư cho nhau rất thường.
[1f] Họ hay viết thư cho nhau.
[1g] Họ rất hay viết thư cho nhau.
[1h] Họ thường hay viết thư cho nhau.
[1k] Họ thường xuyên viết thư cho nhau.
[1l] Họ viết thư cho nhau hoài.

NOTES:

  • thường, hay can be combined with words of degree: rất, quá, lắm, khá, but luôn cannot.

  • luôn can occur before or after the verb; thường is placed before the verb (only combinations like rất thường can occur after).

  • thường xuyên is used in written Vietnamese.

  • luôn luôn is usually placed before the verb or adjective.

  • hoài only appears after the verb and is used in spoken Vietnamese. It often expresses continuous/endless actions or is used when complaining.

  • To express continuation, we can use ngay, liền instead of luôn to emphasize immediacy.

[4] Nói xong anh ấy làm luôn / ngay / liền.
    (Upon saying this, he does it immediately.)

Liền is used in place of luôn to express continuous succession without interruption.

[5] Sáng nay, đói quá, tôi ăn luôn / liền hai tô phở.
    (This morning, I was so hungry that I ate two bowls of phở in a row.)

Cf. ngay1 (p. 269), liền1 (p. 203).

Combinations

  • luôn miệng: Continuous movement of the mouth (eating, speaking, laughing...).
[1] Cô ấy vừa nhận được thư người yêu nên cười luôn miệng.
    (She just received a letter from her boyfriend and she can't stop smiling.)
  • luôn tay / luôn tay luôn chân: Continuous movement of hands and legs.
[2] Tối qua nóng quá, không ngủ được. Tôi phải quạt luôn tay.
    (Last night it was too hot; I had to fan myself without stopping.)
[3] Đứa bé cứ luôn tay luôn chân, trông nó thực là mệt.
    (This child is very active; it is tiring to look after him.)
  • luôn một mạch / luôn một hơi:
[4] Bà ấy đã 60 tuổi rồi mà đi bộ luôn một mạch 10 cây số không nghỉ.
    (She is sixty years old already, but she can walk ten kilometers in a row.)
[5] Vừa nhìn thấy tôi, cô ấy nói luôn một hơi, tôi không nghe kịp.
    (Upon seeing me, she talked so fast without stopping that I couldn't follow her.)
  • luôn thể: By the way / while at it.
[6] Chị ra chợ, luôn thể mua giùm tôi bó rau nhé!
    (Since you are going to the market, will you buy a bunch of vegetables for me as well?)
[7] Tôi chưa ăn bây giờ đâu. Đợi cô ấy về, rồi ăn luôn thể.
    (I don't want to eat now; I'll wait for her to return, then we will eat together.)

NOTE: In the Southern dialect (spoken language), luôn is also used to emphasize a large amount or high degree.

[8] Đám cưới của tôi, tôi mời 500 khách luôn.
    (I invited as many as five hundred guests for my wedding reception.)
[9] Ông ta có mười căn nhà luôn.
    (He has ten houses!)