rồi

In Vietnamese, verbs do not change their form to show tense. Instead, you use particles like rồi to show that an action is completed or a situation has changed. Because it marks completion rather than past time, it can even be used for future completed actions (e.g., Ngày mai tôi làm xong rồi - Tomorrow I will have finished it).

• Completed Action: Placed at the end of a sentence, it shows an action is finished. Crucially, rồi goes at the very end of the clause, even after objects, locations, or prepositional phrases. While time phrases can be placed at the end (Subject + Verb + Object + Location/Time + rồi), they are frequently placed at the beginning of the sentence (Time + Subject + Verb + Object + rồi). In either case, rồi remains at the end. It can, however, be followed by sentence-final particles like ạ or nhé. For example, Tôi ăn cơm ở nhà rồi ạ (I ate rice at home already [polite]), not Tôi ăn rồi cơm.
• Change of State: Used with verbs or adjectives to show a new situation has begun (e.g., Tôi đói rồi - I am hungry now). When used with negative statements, it emphasizes a new, finalized state or change of plan. Note that to mean "no longer" or "anymore", you must use không ... nữa alongside it (e.g., Tôi không đi nữa rồi - I am not going anymore).
• Answering Questions & Negation: It is the standard way to answer "yes" to a chưa (not yet) question (e.g., Ăn cơm chưa? -> Ăn rồi). To say you have "not yet" done something (implying it is still expected or possible), use chưa before the verb and drop rồi (e.g., Tôi chưa ăn cơm - I have not eaten rice yet). For actions that definitively did not happen in the past, use không (or đã không) instead.
• Sequence Connector: It can link two actions to mean "and then" (e.g., Action 1 + rồi + Action 2). A very common related pattern is rồi mới (Action 1 + rồi mới + Action 2), which means "Action 1, and only then Action 2". It can also be used at the beginning of a sentence or as a standalone question to ask "And then?" or "So what?" (e.g., Rồi sao?, Rồi sao nữa?).
• Emphasizing Completion & Standalone Use: You will frequently hear xong rồi (Verb + xong + rồi) to emphasize that a physical task is fully completed. Additionally, Rồi! or Xong rồi! are extremely common standalone exclamations meaning "Done!", "Finished!", or "Already!". Rồi can also function as a main verb or adjective meaning "finished" or "done" (e.g., Việc này rồi chưa? - Is this work finished yet?, or Chuyện đã rồi - It's a done deal).
• Everyday Acknowledgment: Rồi is frequently used in fixed phrases to acknowledge information, such as Biết rồi! (I know / Got it!), Nghe rồi (I heard you), Nhớ rồi (I remember), or Dạ, rồi (Yes, already / Understood).
• Everyday Usage: While đã is used before a verb to mark the past, native speakers use rồi at the end of the sentence much more frequently in daily conversation. Furthermore, they are frequently used together in the same sentence (đã ... rồi) as a standard, neutral equivalent to the English present perfect tense with "already" (Subject + đã + Verb + Object + rồi).