Sắp (Adv)

Situations

S1: John decided to go home and bought his airline ticket.

John sắp về nước.
(John is going back to his country soon.)

Sắp indicates the event will happen in the near future.

S2: The exam is in two days. Nam is worried.

Ngày thi sắp đến rồi.
(The exam day will soon arrive.)

S2 indicates the exam will soon be held.

S3: Yesterday, while Hoa was preparing for the market, guests arrived.

Hôm qua, Hoa sắp đi chợ thì có khách.
(Yesterday, when Hoa was about to go to the market, guests arrived.)

Sắp indicates something that would have happened shortly if another event hadn't intervened. (She didn't go because of the guests.)

Definition

Sắp, as an adverb, indicates an event/fact that will happen in the near future, or something that was about to happen if another event hadn't occurred. (The "near future" is relative to a reference point in time.)

  • sắp and sẽ: Both express the future, but sắp indicates the near future.
[1a] Trời sắp mưa. (It is going to rain - e.g., in a few minutes.)
[1b] Trời sẽ mưa. (It will rain - e.g., in a few hours or days.)

Cf. sẽ (p. 343).

  • sắp, gần, suýt:
  • sắp X: X will happen soon (good or bad).
  • suýt X: X almost happened but luckily didn't (usually bad).
  • gần X: Indicates an approximate level.
[2a] Năm ngoái, ông ấy sắp phá sản vì nợ nần thì gặp may.
     (Last year, he was about to go bankrupt... then met good fortune.)
[2b] Năm ngoái, ông ấy suýt phá sản vì nợ nần thì gặp may.
     (Last year, he almost went bankrupt... then met good fortune.)
[2c] Năm ngoái, ông ấy gần phá sản vì nợ nần thì gặp may.
     (Last year, he nearly went bankrupt... then met good fortune.)