ngay khi
The Moment That
Use ngay khi at the beginning of a time clause to mean "as soon as" or "the moment that." It emphasizes absolute immediacy between two events.
How It Works
While khi (when) or sau khi (after) allow for a time gap between events, ngay khi (and its highly synonymous alternative ngay sau khi) strictly dictates that the second event happens continuously and immediately after the first.
Key Usage Notes:
- Verb phrase attachment: Ngay khi attaches to an action (a clause or verb phrase). You cannot use it directly before a simple noun phrase.
- Using thì: To sound more native, the main clause is very frequently introduced by the conjunction thì (then) when the ngay khi clause is placed at the beginning of the sentence, as in Ngay khi tôi đến thì trời mưa. However, if the clause order is reversed (main clause first), thì must be dropped (e.g., Trời mưa ngay khi tôi đến).
- Tense marking: Just like in English, do not use the future marker sẽ inside the ngay khi clause, even if the event is in the future. The main clause, however, can use sẽ.
- Emphasis: To reinforce the promptness, the main clause frequently pairs with adverbs of immediacy like lập tức or liền (immediately/right away).
- Conversational alternative: In spoken Vietnamese, the pattern vừa ... thì ... (or vừa mới ... thì đã ...) is a very common alternative for expressing 'as soon as'.
Examples (4)
- Tôi sẽ gọi cho bạn ngay khi tôi đến nơi.
I will call you the moment I arrive.
Word by Word: I will call for you right when I arrive place.
Notice that the future marker 'sẽ' is used in the main clause, but omitted in the 'ngay khi' clause.
- Ngay khi thấy ăn trộm, tôi báo cảnh sát lập tức!
As soon as I saw the thief, I called the police immediately!
Word by Word: Right when see thief, I report police immediately!
The subject 'tôi' is dropped in the first clause because it is understood from the main clause. 'Lập tức' emphasizes the immediacy.
- Ngay khi trời tạnh mưa, chúng ta sẽ đi.
As soon as it stops raining, we will go.
Word by Word: Right when sky stop rain, we will go.
- Anh ấy rời đi ngay khi cuộc họp kết thúc.
He left the moment the meeting ended.
Word by Word: He leave go right when meeting end.
'Ngay khi' can also be placed in the middle of the sentence to introduce the dependent clause.
Common Mistakes
Using 'ngay khi' with a noun phrase instead of a clause.
Ngay khi bữa tối, tôi sẽ làm bài tập.Ngay sau bữa tối, tôi sẽ làm bài tập.Ngay khi must attach to a clause with a verb. If you want to say "immediately after [a noun]," you must use ngay sau.
Over-applying the future marker 'sẽ' inside the 'ngay khi' clause.
Ngay khi tôi sẽ đến, tôi sẽ gọi cho bạn.Ngay khi tôi đến, tôi sẽ gọi cho bạn.Similar to English ("as soon as I arrive," not "as soon as I will arrive"), the dependent clause following ngay khi drops the future marker.
Thinking 'ngay khi có thể' is the only way to say 'as soon as possible'.
Different MeaningHãy gửi báo cáo ngay khi có thể.Hãy gửi báo cáo càng sớm càng tốt.'Ngay khi có thể' is natural and means 'as soon as you can'. Càng sớm càng tốt (the earlier the better) is the most common fixed idiom for 'ASAP' and sounds more urgent.
How It Connects
Learn This First
To understand 'ngay khi' (the moment that), learners first need to be comfortable with the basic temporal marker 'khi' (when). Since this pattern often describes immediate actions or commands following an event, familiarity with imperative markers like 'hãy' and arrival verbs like 'đến' helps in constructing natural sentences.
- khiWhen
The word 'khi' (when) is the core temporal marker used to establish the time relationship between two events.
Level 2 - hãyDo (Imperative)
The imperative marker 'hãy' is frequently used in the main clause of 'ngay khi' sentences to give immediate instructions.
Level 1 - đếnTo Arrive / to
The verb 'đến' (to arrive) is a common component in examples for this pattern to show the completion of one event before the next begins.
Level 1
Related Patterns
- vừa ... thì ...As Soon as
Both express immediate sequence. However, ngay khi is a conjunction placed at the start of a clause (often for future conditions), while vừa ... thì ... is a correlative pair placed inside the clauses, often used for past narratives.
Level 3 - sau khiAfter (Doing)
Sau khi simply denotes sequence and allows for a delay between actions, whereas ngay khi strictly means zero delay.
Level 2 - càng ... càng ...The More ... the More
Used in the phrase càng sớm càng tốt, which is the natural, native way to express "as soon as possible" instead of literally translating it with ngay khi.
Level 2
Words in This Pattern
Practice ngay khi in Bubblegum
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