Mới (Adv 1)

Situations

S1: John arrived in Vietnam yesterday. Nam asked him when he came. John replied:

Tôi mới đến Việt Nam hôm qua.
(I just came to Vietnam yesterday.)

John perceives that he came to Vietnam just a short time ago.

S2: John saw a big hospital in Thủ Đức that wasn't there two years ago. He asked Nam:

- Bệnh viện mới xây à?
  (Was the hospital just built?)
- Vâng, mới xây năm ngoái.
  (Yes, it was just built last year.)

Both perceive that the hospital was built a short time ago with reference to the moment of speaking (even though it was built a year ago).

Definition

Mới, as an adverb, is used to express an action or a point of time, prior to the moment of speaking or to another moment in the past, which, according to the speaker, occurred a short time ago.

  • mới, vừa, vừa mới: In many cases, we can use vừa, vừa mới instead of mới to express an action that occurred in the recent past. Vừa is used for an action that happened very recently or just before speaking, while mới can be used for an action that occurred quite a long time ago but is perceived by the speaker as having happened recently. Cf. vừa1 (p. 413).

Combinations

  • vừa mới:
Họ vừa mới đến.
(They have just arrived.)
  • mới vừa:
Họ mới vừa đến.
(They have just arrived.)