Lesson 23: Direction and movement verbs

In Vietnamese, movement is very specific. Many verbs have "direction" built into them, or use a directional suffix to show exactly where the action is headed.

The Five Core Directions

ra: Outward / North / To a busy place
vào: Inward / South / To a quiet place
lên: Up / To highlands
xuống: Down / To lowlands / From a vehicle
về: Return / Home

Directional Suffixes

You attach these words to the end of action verbs to show the path of movement.

Đi lên.
"Go up."

Nhìn xuống.
"Look down."

Chạy ra ngoài.
"Run out outside."

The Inward/Outward Perspective

The logic of ra and vào is perspective-based. Going from a small room to the street is ra. Going from the street into a house is vào.

Mời bạn vào nhà.
"Please come in (to the house)."

Home as a Destination

When going to the place where you live or belong, you always use về.

Tôi về nhà.
"I return home."

Bao giờ bạn về nước?
"When do you return to (your) country?"

Examples

Anh ấy đi ra Hà Nội.
"He is going out (north) to Hanoi."

Chúng ta đi lên tầng hai nhé.
"Let's go up to the second floor, okay?"

This system is deeply ingrained. You rarely just "go" somewhere; you go "out," "in," "up," or "down" to it. Pay attention to how locals use ra and vào for things like "logging in" (vào) or "going out to eat" (ra quán).