Vietnamese grammar, compared with
English grammar is really quite simple. There are no verb conjugations,
no plurals, no articles, and at a elementary level has a sentence order
similar to English.
I speak Vietnamese Tôi nói tie^'ng Vie^.tBut on contrary as in English, adjectives are put behind the nouns they describe:
the big house cái nha` lo*'nNouns
Nouns are usually made up of one,
two or occasionally several words. There is no masculine/feminine form:
tree cây
hotel khách sa.n
museum vie^.n ba?o ta`ng
Plural form is optional. It is created by adding the particles "nhu*~ng" or "các" in front of the single form:
tourist khách du li.ch
tourists (nhu*~ng) khách du li.ch
Pronouns
Probably this is the most confusing
issue for foreigner when speaking Vietnamese. Personal pronouns in Vietnamese
change in accordance to the conversation context as well as to the
gendre and relations between each participants. Personal pronouns are described in more details in a separate appendix A3 Personal Pronoun - The biggest issue for English speakers.
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When a Vietnamese speaker uses the verb 'to eat' ( ăn ), for example, it doesn't change according to the subject or tense. There are no 'eats', 'eaten', or 'ate', just 'eat'. Past or future is normally indicated by using an expression of time:
Yesterday I ate fish. Hôm qua tôi ăn cá.Similarly Vietnamese verbs don't alter according to the subject:
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Although Vietnamese has an equivalent to the English verb 'to be' la`, it is not used in quite the same way as in English. Vietnamese only uses the verb la` when a noun is involved like in a sentence such as 'I am a student'. With adjectives, la` is dropped altogether - a Vietnamese speaker would say 'I hungry' instead of 'I am hungry':
I am a student. Tôi la` sinh vie^n.
I am hungry. Tôi đói.
Tense
Tense is indicated by expression of time like 'yesterday', 'tomorrow', 'a while ago' and so on. However, Vietnamese does use the particle đa~to indicate actions that have been done in the past, the particle đangto express something is being done and the particle se~ to indicate actions in future:
He has gone to Hanoi. Anh ta đa~ đi Ha` nô.i .
He is going to Hanoi. Anh ta đang đi Ha` nô.i .
He will go to Hanoi. Anh ta se~ đi Ha` nô.i .
However in Vietnamese there is a similarity with the compound past tense in English:
I have learned English. Tôi co' ho.c tie^'ng Anh.
I have known him. Tôi co' bie^'t anh ta.
Commands in Vietnamese are formed by giving a dynamic emphasis to the
verb,
that means adding the verb ddi (go) to the end of the verbs you want
to emphasize:
Do it! La`m ddi!
Go away! DDi ddi!Commands in the negative are formed by using DDu*`ng ('Not do') or Không ddu*o*.c ('not allowed')
Don't be noisy ! DDu*`ng la`m ô`n!
Don't go! DDu*`ng ddi!
There is basically one particle không ('no/not') that is used for forming negative in Vietnamese, which is placed before verbs or adjectives:
I'm not going to Hue. To^i kho^ng ddi Hue^'.
It's not good. Ca'i na`y kho^ng to^'t.
Yes and No
In Vietnamese there are no exact specific words for 'Yes' and 'No'. There are several forms Da. Pha?i, Va^ng ... which you can use to answer in affirmative. For negative you can use Kho^ng in most cases.
Are you going to Hue? O^ng ddi Hue^' pha?i không ?
Yes Da. pha?i ( or Va^ng in the North)
(lit: Yes, right.)
No. Kho^ng.
(lit: No)Usually when the Vietnamese are asked a question, they repeat the verb used in the question to answer in affirmative:
Are you going to Hue tomorrow? Mai o^ng ddi Hue^' pha?i không ?
(lit: tomorrow you go Hue ?)
Yes. Mai to^i ddi
(lit: Tomorrow I go.)
When a question is in the past tense you can use the word co' ('have') to answer in affirmative:
Have you visited Vietnam ? O^ng dda~ dde^'n tha(m Vie^.t Nam chu*a ?
Yes. To^i co'. (lit: I have)
No. To^i chu*a. (lit: I have not yet).
Questions in Vietnamese are usually formed by adding the particles kho^ng
('not') or chu*a ('not yet') to the end of the sentence in affirmative
form. Questions with the verb 'to be' involved are created by adding pha?i
không ('right isn't it') to the affirmative sentences:
He can speak Vietnamese. Anh ta bie^'t nói tie^'ng Vie^.t .
Can he speak Vietnamese? Anh ta bie^'t nói tie^'ng Vie^.t pha?i kho^ng ?
He has met his family. Anh ta dda~ ga(.p gia ddi`nh.
Has he met his family? Anh ta dda~ ga(.p gia ddi`nh chu*a ?
We will go to Hanoi tomorrow. Chu'ng ta se~ ddi Ha` no^.i nga`y mai.
Will we go to Hanoi tomorrow ? Chu'ng ta se~ ddi Ha` no^.i nga`y mai pha?i kho^ng ?
Other Vietnamese question words include the following:
who ai Who are you ? Anh la` ai ?
which na`o Which place ? Cho^~ na`o ?
what ca'i gi` What is this ? Ca'i gi` dda^y ?
where o*? dda^u Where is the bathroom ? Nha` ve^. sinh o*? dda^u ?
how the^' na`o How do I get there ? Ddi dde^'n ddo' the^' na`o ?
when khi na`o When do you go ? Khi na`o anh ddi ?
Comparisons are easy in Vietnamese. They are made in the following way, using the word ho*n :
Saigon is bigger than Hue. Sa`i go`n lo*'n ho*n Hue^'.
(lit: Saigon big ho*n Hue^')
This one is cheaper than that one Ca'i na`y re? ho*n ca'i kia.
(lit: This one cheap ho*n that one)
The superior form is created by using the word nha^'t (lit: first)
behind adjectives:
Saigon is the biggest city in Vietnam
Sa`i go`n la` tha`nh pho^' lo*'n nha^'t Vie^.t Nam.
(lit: Saigon is city big first Vietnam)
Possession
To show the ownership or possession, place the word cu?a between the noun and pronoun:
my backpack Ba lo^ cu?a to^i
her room Pho`ng cu?a co^ ta.
your breakfast Bu*~a ddie^?m ta^m cu?a o^ng.
Quantity
all ta^'t ca?
every mo^~i
enough ddu? ro^`i
many/much nhie^`u
little/few i't
a bit mo^.t chu't
several va`i