Vietnamese

## External Resources

https://www.reddit.com/r/languagelearning/wiki/index#wiki\_vietnamese

Welcome to the Vietnamese course!

Here are some basic grammar rules for you to get started with:

* For sentence: Subject + Verb + Object
* For single word: Noun + Modifiers (Adjectives).

### Word Conjugation/Modification

There is **no** conjugation or modification at all. Words with different tones (for example, ***ga*** and ***gà***) are not considered conjugation/modification but two different words. In general, the meaning of sentence changes when we add or remove word(s), or change their order.

### Articles (a/an/the) (featured in lesson 4)

In Vietnamese, there are no articles similar to those in English. You use the word ***một*** to represent a quantity of “1” and that is all.

For the learning purpose throughout the skill tree, you should follow this pattern of using articles:

* In a Vietnamese sentence, if you see the word ***một***, then your English answer should contain **a/an**. If not, then your English answer should contain **the**.
* In an English sentence, if you see ***a/an***, then your Vietnamese answer should contain ***một***. If you see ***the*** instead, then your Vietnamese answer should not have anything before the noun (except for **classifiers** which will be taught later).

For the sake of this course, all pronouns used in answers will be *simplified* as in this table:

 You (singular)
 He
 She
 It
 We
 You (plural)
 They

* **Important**: Due to the almost unlimited combinations of pronouns, we cannot add them all to the database. Therefore, do not try to enter different pronouns other than those above or your answer will be marked wrong.
* **Important**: In the Vietnamese language, subject pronouns and object pronouns are the same.

### Vietnamese classifier system

In Vietnamese, there are words that are used to accompany other nouns in order to "classify" them based on physical/non-physical appearance or quantity.

You will learn about these classifiers in latter skills. In this skill, a few classifiers are introduced:

* **Cái**: used to accompany almost every object.
* **Con**: used to accompany "animal".
* **Người**: used to accompany "human".

## Alphabet 1

Welcome to the Vietnamese course!

This skill is for you to get started with the Vietnamese alphabet and the way the meaning of a word changes with different tones.

*For basic grammar rules, please refer to skill Basics 1*

There are **six tones** in Vietnamese language:

 grave
 acute
 hook
 tilde
 dot

### Alphabet

Vietnamese alphabet does not have the letters *f*, *j*, *w* and *z*.

* In addition to letter a, there are: ă and â.
* In addition to letter d, there is: đ.
* In addition to letter e, there is: ê.
* In addition to letter o, there are: ô and ơ.
* In addition to letter u, there is: ư.

These are also vowels in Vietnamese alphabet (except *d* and *đ*, which are consonants).

### Additional Consonants

* Ch
* Gh
* Gi
* Kh
* Ng / Ngh
* Nh
* Ph
* Qu
* Th
* Tr

### Vietnamese classifier system

In Vietnamese, there are words that are used to accompany other nouns in order to "classify" them based on physical/non-physical appearance or quantity.

You will learn about these classifiers in latter skills. In this skill, a few classifiers are introduced:

* Cái: used to accompany almost every objects.
* Con: used to accompany "animal".
* Người: used to accompany "human".

## Possession

Possessive words in Vietnamese are simple. You just need to add ***của*** before subject/object pronouns. (Note: subject pronouns and object pronouns are the same. No difference at all).

The following table may help you to recall what we learned about subject pronouns:

***của*** can be optional when you are talking about "friend", "dad", "brother" or any family members. This only works with "your" and "my". You will see some example in the skill Family below.

* Example: Anh tôi (my older brother), bố bạn (your dad), bạn tôi (my friend)

### Possessive Pronouns

In English, you sometimes use possessive pronouns to avoid repeating the noun. For example: "It is my car, not your car" = "It is my car, not yours" = "The car is mine, not yours".

In Vietnamese, again, there is *no difference* between *possessive adjectives* and *possessive pronouns*. In both case, you use the same word as presented in the table above. For example: "The book is *hers*.” = "Quyển sách là **của cô ấy**.” and “**Her** book" = "Quyển sách **của cô ấy**”.

### The use of "của mình"

Just like other languages, we hate repetition.

Take a look at this sentence **"Cô ấy bán quyển sách của cô ấy"** (She sells her book). It is grammatically correct, but the word **cô ấy** is repeated twice. And that is not nice.

To avoid that, one uses **của mình**. Here is the simple rule: **của mình** can replace any possessive adjectives or possessive pronouns above *if and only if* the noun(s) (in the sentence) belong to the same subject (of that sentence).

For instance, let's reuse the sentence above:

* *”Cô ấy bán quyển sách của cô ấy."* (Repetition, doesn't sound nice)
* Rewrite: *"Cô ấy bán quyển sách của mình."* (Much better!)

Note: **Của mình** should only be used to avoid repetition, that is, for sentences that have noun(s) belonging to the same subject like "I sell my car", "she wants her book", "he cooks his food" and so on. **Của mình** *cannot be used* if sentence has noun(s) not belonging to subject pronoun, such as "I sell his book", "he wants her money", "they need our car".

## Demonstrative Determiners

In English, demonstratives are “this”, “that”, “these” and “those”. This skill will teach you to use demonstratives in Vietnamese.

### To be used as adjective to modify noun(s): using ***này, đó/kia***

* ***Này*** is equivalent to *this* or *these*. ***Này*** is used as an adjective so it is placed **after** noun(s). Example: con gà ***này*** (this chicken), cái ca ***này*** (this mug)
* ***Đó/Kia*** is equivalent to *that* or *those*. They are also placed **after** noun(s). Example: con gà ***đó*** (that chicken), nhà ga ***đó*** (that train station). ***Đó*** and ***kia*** are interchangable.
* Not quantity-based. In English, “this” goes with singular noun while “these” represents a quantity of more than one. However, ***này*** and ***đó/kia*** does not base on quantity at all. However, plural indicative words (***những*** or ***các***) must accompany them. Please refer to skill ***Plural***.

### To be used as subject of a sentence: using ***đây, đó/kia***

* In English, this/these/that/those can be used as independent subjects or objects in sentence. In Vietnamese, their uses are slightly different.
* ***Đây*** is equivalent to *this* or *these* used as subject of a sentence, usually followed by “to be”, similar to “this is..." or “these are...".

***Important:*** Technically, ***đây*** and ***này*** are the same. They are both equivalent to English "this/these" and they both can be used as adjective for a noun or as an independent subject. However, for the sake of this course, ***đây*** will NOT be used as adjective and ***này*** will NOT be used as independent subject.

* ***Đó/Kia*** is equivalent to *that* or *those* used as subject, usually followed by “to be”, similar to “that is...” or “those are..." . Just like ***đây*** and ***này***, ***đó/kia*** can be used freely as a subject or adjective.

***Important:*** For the rest of the skill tree, the word ***kia*** will NOT appear frequently. Most commonly used demonstratives are ***đây***, ***đó***, and ***này*** so you are recommended to use these words if you encounter sentences with demonstratives.

### To be used as object of a sentence: using ***này, đó/kia***

* To be an object of a sentence, ***này, đó/kia*** must be accompanied by the classifier ***cái*** as you already learned in the skill Alphabet 1. Importantly, these demonstratives are quantity-based when used as object of sentence. In short, ***cái này*** = ***this***, ***những cái này*** = ***these***, ***cái đó*** = ***that***, ***những cái đó*** = ***those***.

## Plurals

To indicate plurality, one can simply place ***những*** or ***các*** before plural noun. If a plural noun has adjective(s), ***những*** or ***các*** must be placed before them in this order: ***những/các*** + classifier + plural noun + adjective(s). Note that you usually need a classifier whenever you have ***những*** or ***các***. You will learn about classifiers later in the course.

There are more ways to indicate plurality in Vietnamese but two words ***những*** and ***các*** are the most common ones. Later in the course, you will learn that when there is a number, you don't use these plural markers.

***Important:*** ***những*** and ***các*** are to demonstrate plurality only. They are not equivalent to "some", "a few", "many"..... Lessons about this area will be provided later.

The two words ***những*** and ***các*** do not have any meaning other than indication of plurality so do not try to translate them. They can be used interchangeably throughout the skill tree.

***Những*** and ***các*** can and should combine with the demonstratives. Please refer to the skill *Demonstratives* in the same row for more information.

Example: *những cậu bé này* (these boys); *các quả táo kia* (those apples)

## Alphabet Introduction 2

This skill gives you another overview of the Vietnamese alphabet in addition to the first Alphabet skill as the nightmare does not end there.

Besides additional letters, tones and additional consonants, there are:

### A lot of diphthongs and triphthongs

(I took the liberty to not include some diphthongs/triphthongs that are extremely uncommon in daily usage to simplify the list)

**Note:** You do not need to learn these by heart. This is just to provide an overview.

* With letter a, diphthongs are: oa, oai, ai, ao, au, ay
* With letter â, diphthongs are: ây, âu
* With letter e, diphthongs are: eo, oe
* With letter ê, diphthongs are: êu, uê
* With letter ơ, diphthongs are: ơi
* With letter ư, diphthongs are: ươi, ưi, ưu
* With letter o, diphthongs are: oi
* With letter ô, diphthongs are: ôi, uôi (triphthong)

### And a lot more

* ach, oang, oanh, anh, an, am…
* ăc, âc, ăm, âm, ăn, âm…
* iêc, iêm, iên, iêp…
* im, in, inh, ip, it…
* ua, ưa, uân, uc, ưc, ung, ưng…

Each can combine with any consonant and any tones to create a different word, with different meaning and slightly different sound. Imagine all the possibilities? Don't worry. You will master it eventually. Just think about thousands of strokes to remember when learning Mandarin/Japanese, you will feel better.

## Basics 2

No new content in this lesson. You may want to refer to previous grammar notes if you need help. Remember that we use simplified pronouns in this course, which are:

 You (singular)
 He
 She
 It
 We (not including "you"
 We (including "you)
 You (plural)
 They

All other pronouns, despite being correct in certain context, will be marked wrong.

*Cultural note*: Inappropriate uses of pronouns in Vietnamese can mean anything from impoliteness, rudeness, awkwardness or intentional insult. Even the same two persons may use different pronouns over time depending on how their emotion, gender, social role, relationship or situation changes (falling in love, hating, threatening, anger, happiness, joking, honoring…). However, Vietnamese people are tolerant towards foreigners speaking Vietnamese so if you happen to use inappropriate pronouns, you are very likely to be excused!

## Negation

### Không (used with all verbs except “to be”)

To indicate negation, one simply places the word ***không*** before the *verb*. ***Không*** means “no”. So literally, all sentences with negative verb will mean: subject + no + verb. Example: "I no go to school", "she no study", "I no like but love Duolingo".

**Note**: you can use ***không*** when the sentence involves the use of adjective(s), such as "I am no happy", "she is no fun", "he is no cruel". But continue reading the case below!

### Không phải là (used with “to be” only with identifying purpose)

Same with ***không***, but ***không phải là*** is for “no to be something”. You cannot use ***không phải là*** with regular verbs. In short, ***không phải là*** is used when you say *something/someone is not something/someone* in a sense of identity. Example: Tôi không phải là sinh viên (I am no student), Cô ấy không phải là bạn gái của tôi (she is no my girlfriend), Cô ấy không phải là giáo viên (she is no teacher).

**Note**: this phrase is used with the sense of identity only. You CANNOT use it to describe emotion, quality or any qualitative characteristics (good, bad, sad, happy, old...). If that is the case, refer to the use of ***không*** above.

## Common Phrases

You are learning basic greetings in Vietnamese. There will be no new grammar notes in this lesson but just some basic phrases for you to start a conversation.

### Lesson 1

*About **Hello** in Vietnamese*: Unlike popular belief that Vietnamese greeting is always **Xin chào!**, it is not the case. I rarely hear anyone use **Xin chào** anymore except in formal speech or movies. Instead, the Vietnamese commonly say "***Chào*** + *a person’s first name or a suitable pronoun*". **Chào** standing alone works fine too.

### Lesson 2

Although we teach the phrase **Chào buổi sáng** (Good morning), the phrase “Good morning” does not actually exist in Vietnamese. There is no specific greeting for each period of a day (morning, afternoon, evening). Instead, one simply says **Chào** as above. You are recommended not to use **Chào buổi sáng** in conversation.

### Lesson 3

The name “Việt Nam” is a variation of Nányuè (南越), literally meaning “Southern Viet”. In that, the word **Việt** applied to an ethnic group living in southern China and Vietnam (pre-history) and was gradually adapted to represent Vietnamese people and Vietnamese language while the word **Nam** is not required.

In this course, we will use ***tiếng Việt*** as *the Vietnamese language* (with tiếng = language) and ***người Việt*** as *Vietnamese people* (with người = people/humans).

## Classifiers 1

### Introduction to Classifier System in Vietnamese

Classifiers are used to accompany a noun but not to modify it. It precedes a noun in order to demonstrate a physical/non-physical appearance or quantity of that noun. Classifier System is not featured in English but some other languages do have similar system.

Word order of a noun is: **classifier + noun + adjective**.

Just like noun gender in some languages, this is something one has to learn by heart. It is important to know which classifier goes with which noun. There can be more than one classifier that can match with a noun but not all nouns will have two or more classifiers.

In this skill, you will start with 7 classifiers:

* **Cái** and **chiếc** are the most common classifiers. Unless the object has specific or unique features that require other classifiers, most of them (70% of all nouns) can be accompanied by **cái** or **chiếc** interchangeably.
* **Quyển** and **cuốn** accompany book or any noun that resembles a book (novel, comics, diary…). They can be used interchangeably.
* **Quả** and **trái** accompany fruit most of the time, but can be used for words that resemble a small, spherical or near spherical object (soccer ball, shuttlecock, any sport ball, and even grenade and bomb).
* **Tờ** accompanies a piece of paper or anything that resembles a piece of paper (form, receipt, money…). Exception: Newspaper, even though it is indeed multiple sheets of paper, it stills use the classifier "tờ" instead of "quyển/cuốn".

## Animals 1

In this lesson, we will learn about animals. The classifier word for animals is: **con**.

Example: con mèo (the cat), con chó (the dog)....

### Additional note on classifier system

You may ask this question: does a noun always have to be accompanied by a classifier? What is the difference between a noun without a classifier and a noun accompanied by one? The answer is no. Vietnamese people give little or no preference about this minor detail. As long as it makes sense, they can fully understand you.

But in fact, there are certain differences in interpreting the two. Here is the table for you to compare:

 Use
 Example

*Most sentences on Duolingo will have classifiers preceding nouns.*

## Clothing

In English, one verb “to wear” can pretty much cover all kinds of clothes, such as “to wear a hat", "to wear a shirt", "to wear shoes”. In Vietnamese, there are more than one verb for “to wear”, depending on what clothes you are talking about. Check out this table:

 Shirt, Coat (anything worn on body)
 Pants (anything worn from waist from ankles)

Depending on the regions and dialects, the uses of these verbs may vary. However, to simplify the learning process on Duolingo, we will go with these only two verbs: **đội** for anything worn on head and **mặc** for any kinds of shirts and pants. These are the most commonly used and understood by any Vietnamese speakers.

## Food

### Lesson 1

**Món** is the classifier for all kinds of food. It can precede all nouns that indicate food. If there is no noun, **món** can stand alone and mean “dish” (as in: delicious dish, not as in: plate of food). In this case, it is best to used with demonstratives: *món này*, *món đó* (this dish, that dish) if used in conversation.

*Note:* **Món** can signify different status of animal. A living animal, the noun must be accompanied by **con** (*con gà* - the chicken). But if **món** accompanies the noun instead, it means a cuisine/dish made from that animal (*món gà* - the chicken, but meaning the dish of chicken instead).

### Lesson 2

**Bữa** means “meal” and can be considered as **classifier** for meals of a day. We have **sáng, trưa, chiều, tối**, respectively meaning “morning, noon, afternoon, evening”. Therefore, **bữa sáng, bữa trưa, bữa chiều, bữa tối** respectively means “breakfast, lunch, teatime/afternoon snack, dinner”.

### Lesson 3

**Thức ăn** means food or dishes in general. But unlike **món**, it is not a classifier. You should just use **thức ăn** to generally indicate food (Example: I saw her food, The food is delicious…)

*Cultural note:* **Canh** is, technically, soup. But it is not identical to Western soup (for this, we have the word “xúp”, pronounced the same as soup, meaning “Western soup”). In this course, the answer “soup” is accepted for **canh**.

### Lesson 5

For **trứng**, classifier word is **quả** or **trái**, just like fruits. But we usually use **quả** rather than **trái**.

**Chay** means “vegetarian” (adjective) but its use is unique compared to English. To say “I am vegetarian” in Vietnamese, you say “Tôi ăn **chay**” - literally, I eat “vegetarianly”. In this case, **chay** must always go with the verb **ăn** (to eat).

* You can combine **chay** with **món**, **bữa** and **thức ăn** to indicate **món chay** (vegetarian dish), **bữa chay** (vegetarian meal), **thức ăn chay** (vegetarian food).
* To say “I am a vegetarian person”, you say “Tôi là người **ăn chay**” (literally, I am the person who eats “vegetarianly”).

## Questions 1

***This lesson contains some important words for the rest of this course***

### Yes-no question: using **Phải không**

1. To form yes-no question, you simply place **phải không** at the end of the sentence. The question formula is like this: *S + V + O + **phải không**?*. Technically, **phải không** is equivalent to “right?", "eh?” in English sentences. Example: *Bạn thích cô ấy phải không?* (literally, You like her, right?)
2. Another way to form yes-no question: you add **có** before the verb or adjective(s) and place **không** at the end of the sentence. The question formula will become like this: S + **có** + V/Adj + O (optional) + **không**?. Example: *Bạn có hạnh phúc không?* (hạnh phúc = happy -> adj.) (Are you happy?), *Bạn có muốn ăn không?* (Do you want to eat?)

### WH-question:

 Bạn
 Cô ấy

Example:

 Word-by-word

In this skill, you will learn how to form questions with *where*, *what*, *who*, *why*, and *when*

Using *where* - **đâu**

* **Đâu** is placed at the end of the sentence.
* **Đâu** is often used with **ở**, which means *at*. Literally, **ở đâu** means *at where*.

Using *what* - **gì**

* Just like other question words, **gì** is placed at the end of the sentence.
* **Gì** can associate (follow by) with either a **verb** or a **classifier**, or both. *For example:* **gì** placed after the verb *ăn*, *ăn gì* literally means “eat what”, used in the question asking someone eating what. And **con** is the classifier for animals. Therefore, **con gì** means “what animal”. For example, *Đó là con gì?* (What animal is that?)
* **Cái** is the most commonly used classifier word, representing almost every tangible object, thus, **cái gì** means “what thing/object” associating with the verb of that question sentence. For example: *Đây là cái gì?* (What is this?, literally What thing/object is this?)
* It is possible for **cái gì** to be used as subject. Example: *Cái gì cắn tôi?* (What bites me?).

Using *who* - **ai**

* In Vietnamese, **ai** can be a subject or an object. Example: *Ai đánh bạn?* (Who beats you?) or *Bạn đánh ai?* (You beat whom?/Who do you beat?).

Using *when* - **khi nào**

* **Khi nào** can be placed at the beginning or at the end of the question without changing any meaning. *Preferably*, our answer database has more questions containing **khi nào** at the beginning so you are recommended to follow.

E.g: *Khi nào bạn ăn bữa sáng?* (When do you eat the breakfast?)

Using *why* - **vì sao/tại sao**

* There are two forms of “why”: **vì sao** and **tại sao**. They are interchangeable.
* Place them at the beginning, before SVO to form why-question.
* To answer with “because”, you say **tại vì**, **bởi vì** or just simply **vì**, then followed by regular SVO.

E.g: *Tại sao chúng tôi mặc quần?* (Why do we wear pants?) or *Vì sao bạn ăn cái bánh?* (Why do you eat the cake?) – *Tại vì nó ngon.* (Because it is good/delicious.)

## Verbs 1

### Lesson 1

**Cho** can be an independent verb (meaning “to give”, “to allow”) but in this lesson, it acts as preposition “to” as in **viết cho** (to write to (sb)). *Note:* **cho** is not universally used as “to” for every word.

Regarding the verb **nghe**, it can mean both “hear” and “listen to” in English. There is no need to use preposition with **nghe** as it is simply followed by noun or pronoun, respectively for “hear” and “listen to”.

**Thấy** in this lesson means “to see”. Interestingly, it accompanies other verbs to emphasize the action in the sense of “already done it”, such as **nghe thấy** (to hear, and already hear), **nhìn thấy** (to see, and already see), **tìm thấy** (to find, and already find).

Notice the verb **thử**, which means "to try doing sth". When using this verb, you just need to add another verb after it. Example: Tôi ***thử*** *ăn* một quả chuối (I try eating a banana). For "to try to do sth", we will give you its correspondence verb in Vietnamese later.

### Lesson 2

**Yêu** means “to love”. Unlike **thích** (to like), **yêu** cannot go with another verb like in English (love eating, love to work…). But you can use **thích** + *another verb* (thích ăn, thích học, thích cười…).

### Lesson 3

Okay, **lắng nghe** contains the word **nghe**, so it must mean “to hear”/“to listen to” right? That is true! **lắng nghe** does mean so but emphasizing the action of hearing/listening. However, this word is not common in regular conversation but quite common in poetry, novel, speech.

The verb **đi** means “to go” and **đi bộ** means “to walk” in the sense of to go jogging. Additionally, throughout the skill tree, you will see this form a lot: **đi** + *another verb*. Example: đi ăn (go eat), đi ngủ (go sleep), đi bán (go sell)… It is commonly used in daily conversation to emphasize actions. In fact, it is more natural to use this form when speaking with or without the urgency of the action. Vietnamese people love emphasizing what they did/are doing/will be doing!

**Luyện tập** means “to practice”. Breaking it down, **luyện** independently can mean “to practice” but we will not use it in this course, and **tập** means “to practice” but in the sense of “just start learning something”.

### Lesson 4

**Giúp đỡ** means “to help” in a narrative sense, **giúp** alone works well and sounds more natural. In case of saying “help me”/“help + sb”, use **giúp** only.

*Review this case:* **thấy** in this lesson means “to see” and it accompanies other verbs to emphasize the action in the sense of “already done it”. In this lesson, we learn the word **tìm** (to find). **tìm** alone means one has the purpose of going find something and not yet finds it, while **tìm thấy** means one already finds something.

### Lesson 5

**Làm** means “to work”. **đi làm** means “to go to work”. It commonly goes with **việc** to become **làm việc** (also meaning “to work” but specifically talking about working for an employer). Additionally, special form: **làm + (sb) + adjective/verb** = *to make + sb + adjective/verb*. Example: Tôi **làm** cô ấy cười (I make her smile), Anh ấy **làm** tôi buồn (He makes me sad).

### Lesson 6

**Để** is a verb, meaning “to put (something on/at/in something)”. When using with pronoun or person’s name, it means “to let + (sb) + verb/adjective”. Moreover, **để** can be used as conjunction, “to” as in “in order to” or “to + verb” which we will learn later on.

#### Combination of verbs

In Vietnamese, a stative verb (such as **đứng** - *stand*, **ngồi** - *sit*, **nằm** - *lie*) can combine with another verb to describe an action that is done in the state.

For example: Cậu bé đó đang **ngồi đọc sách**. - The boy is sitting and reading a book.

You can see in this example, the stative verb **ngồi** (sit) is combined with **đọc sách** (read a book), so the sentence describe the boy reads a book while sitting.

## Objects

There is no new grammar in this skill.

Important review: for most objects in this skill, classifier words **cái** and **chiếc** are applicable and interchangeable.

Important review: classifier word is not always required. It depends on the noun’s usage itself. If one wants to use a noun with general meaning (Ex: animals eat to survive), then there is ***no*** classifier needed. If one wants to point at a specific noun (Ex: the ice cream (that you bought) is tasty), then classifier is needed.

In this course, when in doubt, use classifier!

* Exception: in lesson 3, **thuốc lá** cannot be accompanied with **cái** or **chiếc**. Its classifier is **điếu**.

In lesson 2, **máy tính** is supposedly means “computer” in general. However, the original word is ***máy vi tính*** but **máy tính** replaced the original one and is widely used. *Note:* **máy tính** can also mean “portable scientific calculator” but we will not use it in this course.

## Questions 2

You will continue to learn how to form questions in Vietnamese.

Using *how* - ***như thế nào*** and ***làm sao***

1. ***Như thế nào*** is always at the end of sentence to make it a “how-question” (Example: *Bạn học như thế nào?* (literally, You study how?)). It is used to ask about “what method, condition, quality of doing something”.
2. In comparison, ***làm sao*** is placed at the beginning of the sentence to ask the “how to” question.
	* Formula 1: ***Làm sao*** + S + V + O? (Ex: *Làm sao bạn biết Tiếng Việt?) (How do you know Vietnamese language)*)
	* Formula 2: ***Làm sao*** + **để** (from skill Verb 1) + Verb? (Ex: *Làm sao để học Tiếng Việt? (How to study Vietnamese?)*)

Asking *how much/how many* - ***bao nhiêu***

* ***Bao nhiêu*** can be used for both countable and uncountable nouns.
* ***Bao nhiêu*** is placed before classifier words. So the formula for this kind of question: **S + V + bao nhiêu + classifier + noun?** (Ex: *Bạn có bao nhiêu con chó? (literally, You have how many dogs?)*).
* ***Bao nhiêu*** is GREAT for asking price. Saying ***Bao nhiêu?*** is quite enough unless you want to be more specific, then follow this: Noun + ***giá*** + ***bao nhiêu?*** (***giá*** means “price”). (E.g: *Cái mũ này giá bao nhiêu?* (How much is this hat?))

### Lesson 2

***Trả lời*** means “to answer” while ***đáp án*** means “answer” (as a noun). We also use ***câu trả lời*** to represent “answer” as a noun.

## Colors

What a colorful life!

You will learn handful of basic colors here: red, white, black, orange, blue, green, brown, gray, pink and violet.

Classifier for all colors is ***màu*** (meaning “color”). So literally, to mention color, one will say, in Vietnamese, color red, color green, color brown and so on.

* If you want to use color words with a noun (object, living thing), classifier ***màu*** is optional. Example: *cái áo màu đỏ* and *cái áo đỏ* (red shirt, one has ***màu***, one does not) are both acceptable.

In English, you use “to be” to describe color (the shirt is red, the dog is brown, the computer is black, etc.). In Vietnamese, we do not use “to be” but the verb “to have” - ***có***.

* Formula for this: **S + có + màu + color**. (Example: *Con chó có màu nâu* (literally, The dog has color brown)). Do not use “to be” with color!

*Cultural note:* there are many Vietnamese words associating with blue and green but we will only learn ***xanh da trời*** and ***xanh lá cây***. ***Xanh*** separately can mean green or blue, causing confusion. ***Xanh da trời*** literally means “blue as the skin of the sky” and ***xanh lá cây*** means “green as tree leaves”.

This video is for those who want to know more about colors in different languages. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TtnD4jmCDQ

## Adjectives 1

In this lesson, you will learn some basic adjectives.

Unlike English, Vietnamese language does not require the use of “be” when having a subject accompanied with adjective(s). However, for teaching and learning purpose, the course will have this rule: for all sentences that have the structure **subject-adjective**, except for **negative sentences** and **questions**, you must use ***rất*** (very).

Literally, all sentences will appear to be like this: he very happy, I very tired, she very smart…

Example:

* Tôi ***rất*** hạnh phúc. (literally, I very happy)
* Cô ấy ***rất*** giỏi. (literally, she very intelligent)

BUT:

* Tôi không hạnh phúc. (literally, I no happy - no longer use ***rất***)
* Cô ấy không giỏi. (literally, she no intelligent - no longer use ***rất***)
* Tôi có hạnh phúc không? (Am I happy? - no longer use ***rất***)
* Cô ấy có giỏi không? (Is she intelligent? - no longer use ***rất***)

Why? It is not the case that the Vietnamese love to exaggerate everything. Using **very** simply helps you to distinguish between a sentence (**subject-very-adjective**) and a modified noun (**noun-adjective(s)**).

**Note:** You may encounter some sentences in this course that do not always have the word *very*. That is because they have other indications as a sentence already, such as **I am happy and sad** (with “and”).

**Note:** These instructions are for learning purpose only. In real conversation, you may or may not use ***rất*** (very) and your sentences still make sense. In fact, avoid using ***rất*** in every sentence, it’s exaggerative!

### Lesson 1 - using “thật”

Very straightforward, ***thật*** is equivalent to “really” to accompany adjective(s). It is not used for expressing surprise like “Really?” in English. However, ***thật*** will not be used much in this course.

### Lesson 7 - đúng and sai

With ***đúng*** (right) and ***sai*** (wrong), you do not have to use “very”.

## Conjunctions

### Lesson 1

There is this useful phrase: ***Nếu… thì…***. It is equivalent to “If… then…” in English.

### Lesson 2

Another useful phrase for you: ***Không những… mà còn…***, which is equivalent to “Not only… but also…” in English.

Useful expression: ***cả + subject + đều + verb/adj*** which is similar to “both” in English. It illustrates both mentioned subjects do the same action or have the same characteristic.

### Lesson 3

***Nên*** in this lesson is used as “so” between two clauses or two sentences. Most of the time, it is placed at the beginning of the clause/sentence to indicate cause and effect relation.

***Để*** in this lesson is used as “in order to” or simply “to”. Additionally, you can have this structure “in order for (sth/sb) to…” by saying: “***để*** + sb/sth + verb in Vietnamese”.

Useful expression: ***không phải…mà cũng không phải*** OR ***không…mà cũng không***, equivalent to “neither…nor…” in English. This expression can be used as subject or object.

## Numbers

### From 11-19

From 11-19, you say ***mười*** (ten) + *any number from one to nine* from table above. Literally, it means “ten one” (11), “ten two” (12) and so on.

* Exception: For fifteen (15), you cannot say “mười năm” (ten five) but the correct form is ***Mười lăm*** (“lăm” instead of “năm”). Though lăm and năm all mean “five”, **năm** is used for number 5 only while **lăm** is used with **any integer** starting from 15 **that ends with 5** (15, 25, 35, 45…). Using lăm alone to represent number 5 is incorrect!

### From 20 to 99

1. For 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, you say *any number from two to nine* (table above) + ***mươi***. Example: hai mươi (20), ba mươi (30), chín mươi (90) and so on.
	* Note that this is *mươi*, not *mười*.
2. For the rest of the number, you simply combine *any number from two to nine* (table above) + ***mươi*** + *any number from two to nine*. Example: hai mươi ba (23, literally two ten three), chín mươi chín (99, literally nine ten nine).
	* Exception: Pay attention to the use of lăm as mentioned above.
	* Exception: For number ending with 1 (21, 31, 41…), you use **mốt** instead of **một**. This is similar to the case of lăm above. It starts from 21 and beyond (E.g: 61 is *sáu mươi mốt*, NOT *sáu mươi một*). For 11, you still use một as in *mười một* (11).
	* Exception: For number ending with 4 (24, 34, 44…), you can use **tư** beside **bốn**. *However*, unlike the case of lăm and mốt above, bốn and tư can be used **interchangeably**. (E.g: 44 can be *bốn mươi bốn* or *bốn mươi tư*; 74 can be *bảy mươi bốn*or *bảy mươi tư*)

### From 100 and beyond

1. For hundred-level, you use *any number from one to nine* + ***trăm***. (Example: một trăm (100), chín trăm (900) and so on.)
2. Simply combine #1 with two sessions above to form any number from 100 to 999. Example: hai trăm ba mươi ba (233), chín trăm chín mươi chín (999)…
3. Important: For any number from 1 to 9 (101 to 109, 201 to 209...), ***lẻ*** must be used. Formula: *number (1-9)* + ***trăm*** + ***lẻ*** + *number (1-9)*
4. For thousand-level, you use *any number from one to nine* + ***nghìn***. Repeat #2 and #3 for any number from 1000 to 9999.
5. For million-level, you use *any number from one to nine* + ***triệu***. Same as above.
6. For billion-level, you use *any number from one to nine* + ***tỷ***. Same as above.

### Vietnamese currency

Vietnamese currency (Vietnam dong - ***Việt Nam đồng*** or just simply *đồng*) starts with thousand-level so if you plan to travel, I recommend you to pay attention to the word *nghìn* (thousand) and *triệu* (million).

* You do not have to say “Việt Nam đồng” as currency unit when talking about money in Vietnam.
* Available bills: 1000, 2000, 5000, 10000, 20000, 50000, 100000, 200000, 500000 (paper bill only, there used to be coins but they are extremely rare now).

## CONTINUOUS

You’ll learn how to form continuous tense in Vietnamese, that is, to demonstrate the actions that are taking place.

One must add ***đang*** before verb(s) of a sentence to indicate continuity.

Example:

* Tôi *đang* ăn. (I am eating)
* Cô ấy *đang* đọc. (She is reading)
* Họ *đang* ngủ. (They are sleeping)

Note: Vietnamese language does distinguish between present tense (I eat -> habit, fact) and continuous tense (I am eating -> going on right now).

That is all!

## Ordinal Numbers

Ordinary numbers in English are “first”, “second”, “third”, fourth, fifth, something-th

In Vietnamese, you simply add ***thứ*** before **a number** to form ordinary number(s). Check the skill Numbers if you need to review about numbers in Vietnamese.

* Exception: for “first”, you say ***thứ nhất*** (“nhất”, instead of “một”).

Example:

* Đây là quyển sách *thứ* hai của tôi. (This is my second book).
* Cậu bé *thứ* bảy (The seventh boy)

## Dates and Time

In Vietnamese, it is common to use number to illustrate a weekday or a month (example: thứ 3 (Tuesday) or tháng 7 (July)). However, in this lesson, please do not write in number.

### Days of the week

For days of the week, one use ***thứ*** + **any number from 2 to 7**. For Sunday, it’s exceptional: **Chủ nhật**.

 Tuesday
 Wednesday
 Thursday
 Friday
 Saturday
 Sunday

Note: Yes, you remember it right. These are exactly like ordinary numbers (second, third, fourth… seventh).

### Months of the year

For months of the year, you use ***tháng*** + **any number from 1 to 12**.

Note: for April, the more common use is ***tháng tư***. However in general, both *tháng bốn* or *tháng tư* are acceptable.

## Family

From tips & notes in the skill **Basics 1**, we learn that Vietnamese pronouns vary depending on context, polite level, gender, superiority, emotion, and age. Thus, I have to simplify and limit the total accepted pronouns in this course.

The same with this case. How you call your parents, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts… will vary depending on regions.

Here is the simplified and universally understood translations that we will use in this course.

 Younger brother
 Older sister
 Younger sister
 Child/Son
 Child/Daughter
 Dad/Father
 Mom/Mother
 Grandpa/Grandfather
 Grandma/Grandmother

**Note:** These Vietnamese words can actually be used as pronouns but we are not going to use it in this course. There will be separate post in discussion forum explaining this.

**Cultural note:** for grandpa/grandma, Vietnamese people always distinguish between paternal grandparents (ông/bà nội) and maternal grandparents (ông/bà ngoại).

## Comparison

Vietnamese people use comparison in conversation very frequently.

### Comparison of adjectives

Superiority: Subject + adjective + ***hơn*** + object

* Example: Tôi mập ***hơn*** bạn. (I am fatter than you)

Equality: Subject + adjective + ***như*** + object

* Example: Tôi mập ***như*** bạn. (I am as fat as you)

**Note:** There is inferior comparison of adjectives but it is not very common to use.

### Comparison of verbs

Superiority: Subject + verb + object 1 (optional) + ***nhiều hơn*** + object 2

* Example: Tôi ăn ***nhiều hơn*** bạn. (I eat more than you)

Equality: Subject + verb + object 1 (optional) + ***nhiều như*** + object 2

* Example: Tôi ăn ***nhiều như*** bạn. (I eat as much/many as you)

Inferiority : Subject + verb + object 1 (optional) + ***ít hơn*** + object 2

* Example: Tôi ăn ***ít hơn*** bạn. (I eat less than you)

### Comparison of adverbs

Superiority: Subject + verb + adverb + ***hơn*** + object

* Example: Tôi học nhanh ***hơn*** bạn. (I study faster than you)

Equality: Subject + verb + adverb + ***như*** + object

* Example: Tôi học nhanh ***như*** bạn. (I study as fast as you)

**Note:** Inferior comparison of adverb is rare. People tend to use opposite adverb instead (slowly =/ fast).

**Note:** You can always place any additional object (optional) after verb.

### Superlative comparison

* Adjective

This is a bit complicated. Superlative adjective should be accompanied by a noun (for instance, the best person, most intelligent student, fastest man…). You can’t simply say “I am the best”, “She is the most intelligent” like in English.

General formula (for standalone noun): noun + adjective + ***nhất*** (in this case, this standalone noun can be subject or object of a sentence, or just by itself).

* Verb

Formula: Subject + verb + object (optional) + ***nhiều nhất***.

Example: Cô ấy học ***nhiều nhất***. (She studies the most - the most content of something)

* Adverbs

Formula: Subject + verb + object (optional) + adverb + ***nhất***.

Example: Anh ấy ăn nhanh nhất. (He eats “fast-est” - this form does not really exist in English)

### Quantity comparison of noun(s)

It is also frequent to say you have something more or less than someone else does.

* Superior quantity comparison: (To have more + noun + than)

Subject + có + ***nhiều*** + noun + ***hơn*** + object (optional).

Example: Tôi có ***nhiều*** tiền hơn (bạn). (I have more money (than you)).

* Inferior quantity comparison: (To have less + noun + than)

Subject + có + ***ít*** + noun + ***hơn*** + object (optional).

Example: Tôi có ***ít*** tiền hơn (bạn). (I have less money (than you)).

* Superlative quantity (to have the most/fewest + noun)

Subject + có + ***nhiều***/***ít*** + noun + ***nhất***

Example: chúng tôi có nhiều/ít thành viên nhất. (We have the most/fewest members)

**Note:** the plural indicators ***những*** and ***các*** are NOT needed.

## Prepositions 1

This skill introduces some basic prepositions in Vietnamese.

There is no new grammar point. However, you may want to review previous grammar notes, especially skills **Question 1** and **Question 2**.

Good luck!

### Lesson 1

***hãy*** + **verb**: this word is similar to the phrase “let’s” but it does not have equivalent meaning. Instead of “let us”, it indicates “let you” or “you should”. The target audience is someone else not you.

**Note**: actually, people don’t use ***hãy*** much in daily conversation. But you will see the use of ***hãy*** a lot on advertisement, instruction panel or formal speech, implying you or all of you in general, should do something.

***đừng*** + **verb**: so this is another form of negation, very similar to ***không***, meaning “do not + verb”. One uses ***đừng*** when strongly demanding someone not to do something. When traveling in Vietnam, watch out for red signs starting with ***đừng***. It is either a law that you should not violate or something could harm you (example: Do not enter).

***ư***: this word is put at the end of sentence to indicate a yes-no question, besides **phải không**. Refer to skill “Question 1” if you need to review this. However, ***ư*** indicates a question with an expression of surprise.

### Lesson 2

***không có gì***: literally meaning “there is nothing”, this phrase is similar to “you’re welcome” or “no problem”, used to respond to thank-you.

***vừa mới***: this phrase is used in this formula: subject + ***vừa mới*** + verb, demonstrating that someone **has just** done something. This phrase indicates action occurred the past but only a moment ago. **Note**: Vietnamese people love to talk about what they just did. You are recommended to add this phrase to your vocabulary list.

In this lesson, you also learn to form commands or requests. Nothing new here. Learn it yourself!

## Countries 1

In general, most names of countries have origin from Sino-Vietnamese (chữ Nôm). Thus, many *sound* very similar to their counterparts in Chinese language. For reference, here is a long list of Vietnamese names for countries and cities around the world: Vietnamese exonyms: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese\_exonyms

**Note**: Do not learn by heart. Most Vietnamese would not understand or use these Vietnamese-written names, only a handful of those (which will be taught here). For the rest of the countries and cities, you should use original English names as that is how Vietnamese people preferably use.

Classifier for country is ***nước***. It also means “water” as you already learn.  So ***nước*** + <> is the proper form to address a country to someone.

## Nominalization

The term *nominalization* means converting a word into a noun. In this skill, I particularly refer to the conversion of an adjective or a verb into a noun.

In English, you have “stupidity” as noun form of “stupid”, “eagerness” as noun form of “eager”.

In Vietnamese, one simply adds ***sự*** before a verb or an adjective to convert it into noun.

Example:

* bắt đầu (to start) **(verb)** => ***sự*** bắt đầu (the start) **(noun)**
* phức tạp (complicated) **(adjective)** => ***sự*** phức tạp (complication) **(noun)**

While most adjectives can be converted to noun form with the word ***sự***, not all verbs can! We will learn more about this in another skill.

Ultimately, a number of adjectives cannot be converted! Despite not being grammatically wrong, doing so to some adjectives or in some contexts can sound weird, awkward or unnatural.

We will try to create a post in forum to list words that should not be used with ***sự***.

## Future

Technically, Vietnamese doesn't have tense like English or other European languages.

In Vietnamese, time is implied by adverbs or contexts instead of verb conjugation. These adverbs can be time: ngày mai (tomorrow), năm sau (next year), tuần sau (next week), etc. They can be also a specialized adverb for time reference - for past, it's "đã"; for continuous present, it's "đang"; for future, it's "sẽ".

To be precise, these are actually adverbs marking perfect, continuous, and prospective aspects, respectively, but with the assumption that you're without linguistic background, you can understand this as relative time reference.

Drawing time from context is harder and cannot be taught in this course. We recommend you to do further practice in real life situations to get used to Vietnamese time reference.

For convenience, colloquially, such references to past, present, and future, are called "tense" - be careful.

To express an action that is going to or will probably happen, simply put ***sẽ*** (equivalent to “will”) before the verb.

Example:

* Con mèo ***sẽ*** ăn. (The cat will eat)
* Chúng tôi ***sẽ*** viết một quyển sách. (We will write a book)
* Họ ***sẽ*** ***không*** ngủ. (They will not sleep)

To express negation, please refer to the skill Negation as the grammar rule is the same.

* Will not + *action*: ***sẽ không*** + *verb*
* Will not be + *attribute*: ***sẽ không*** + *adjective*
* Will not be something: ***sẽ không phải là*** (***sẽ không là*** is also correct) + *noun* (accompanied by classifier if needed)

### Common future time expression

You already learned ***ngày mai*** (tomorrow), here are some more common expressions.

* ***ngày mốt***: the day after tomorrow. Yes, we have a word for the day after tomorrow.
* using ***tới*** or ***sau*** with week/month/year to indicate next week, next month or next year. Example: ***tuần tới*** or ***tuần sau*** (next week), ***tháng tới*** or ***tháng sau*** (next month)…
* ***sắp***: this word is placed between subject and verb to indicate an action that is *about to happen*. Example: họ ***sắp*** xuất hiện (meaning: they are ***about to*** appear).

## Attributes

No new grammar point in this skill, only new vocabulary.

Some attributes can be used as noun or adjective *without* nominalization. In this skill, those words are:

* linh hoạt (flexible or flexibility)
* cạnh tranh (competitive or competitiveness)
* bất lợi (disadvantageous or disadvantage)
* may mắn (lucky or luck)
* bất cẩn (careless or carelessness)
* tham lam (greedy or greed)
* lười biếng (lazy or laziness)

Ultimately, using nominalization (***sự***) with these words is acceptable.

## Adjectives 1.5

In the sentence structure:

**It + be + adj + (for + S.O) to + verb + ...** there is no word-by-word translation

For example:

1.1) It is hard to wake up early ( It+ be +adj+ to +verb)

**Translation**: Khó/Rất khó (mà/để - optional but more natural to add) dậy sớm

In the Vietnamese translation, we will ignore "It is" there and just translate the rest.

1.2) It is hard for a teacher to pay attention to all.

**Translation**: Một giáo viên khó mà quan tâm hết.

Now here, we will use "a teacher" as the subject to start our translation.

## Frequency

Adverbs of frequency describe how often something occurs.

In this skill, there are five common adverbs of frequency to learn.

* ***luôn*** (or ***luôn luôn***): always
* ***thường xuyên***: usually, often
* ***đôi khi***: sometimes
* ***hiếm khi***: rarely
* ***không bao giờ***: never

The adverb of frequency is placed between subject and verb in a sentence.

Example:

* Tôi luôn hạnh phúc. (I am always happy)
* Cô ấy thường xuyên buồn. (She is usually sad)

**Minor notes:**

* Sometimes, ***đôi khi*** can be placed at the beginning of the sentence.
* For the sake of this course, when a sentence has an adverb of frequency, you do not have to use ***rất*** (very) unless the sentence clearly means so.
* There are two terms for “never”: ***không bao giờ*** and ***chưa bao giờ***. While there is only ***không bao giờ*** in this skill tree, ***chưa bao giờ*** is an emphasized expression of “never”. Use this to emphasize something you have never done before.
* Some adverbs of frequency that are not featured: nhiều lúc (sometimes), đôi lúc (sometimes, but a bit less) nhiều khi (occasionally, sometimes), thường thường (often), thỉnh thoảng (often).

## Conjunctions 2

### Lesson 1

***vậy mà*** is equivalent to “but” in English and it connects two opposing clauses in one sentence. ***vậy mà*** can be used interchangeably with ***nhưng***.

***như vậy*** is a bit unique. Despite having various English interpretation, I limit its translation into two only (as shown in hint): “like that” (as in “I am like that”, “I work like that”, etc) and “as a result” (placed at the beginning of the clause).

### Lesson 2

***mặc dù*** and ***tuy nhiên*** are equivalent to “although” or “though”. They can be used interchangeably. If your answer containing either one of these is marked wrong, please report to us.

***cũng*** is a helpful word to demonstrate someone *also* does something. Following this formula: subject (tôi/anh ấy/An/người đàn ông…) + ***cũng*** + verb. - ***cũng vậy*** is another way to shorten similar clauses. Using this structure: subject (tôi/anh ấy/An/người đàn ông…) + ***cũng vậy***, it can replace sentences in this format “so am I/so do I/me too/I do too”. - Note: standalone ***vậy*** has many uses but mostly, it is equivalent to sentence-initial “so”, as being used as a pause during conversation.

## Adverbs

In general, Vietnamese people do not use adverbs that often in daily conversation. Additionally, they rarely use adverbs to accompany adjectives as in English (such as “incredibly strong”, “unbelievably amazing”, etc.). Therefore, one should avoid use too many adverbs as much as possible.

This skill provides a handful of adverbs that is most frequently used.

### General formula

Unlike English, Vietnamese do not modify an adjective to convert it into adverb. Instead, one places ***một cách*** before an adjective to create an “adverb phrase”. Literally, it means “in a way that is (adj)”. For instance, ***một cách hạnh phúc*** (happily) in Vietnamese literally means “in a way that is happy”.

Example: ***một cách hoàn hảo*** (perfectly), ***một cách may mắn*** (fortunately), ***một cách hạnh phúc*** (happily).

***Exception:*** some adjectives require one additional word when forming “adverb phrase”. For instance, chậm (slow) and nhanh (fast) are adjectives but in “adverb phrase”, one says ***một cách chậm chạp*** (slowly - “chạp” is added), ***một cách nhanh chóng*** (fast - “chóng” is added).

### Other adverbs

Some common adverbs provided in this skill do not follow the “adverb phrase” structure above.

* ***ngay lập tức***: immediately
* ***nói chung***: generally/generally speaking
* ***suýt***: almost (do something)
* ***thậm chí***: even (as in “I do not even understand what you’re talking about)
* ***dù sao***: anyway (always using this form ***dù sao***...***cũng***/***vẫn***...)
* ***chưa***: yet (as in “have not done something yet”)

### ATTENTION: Nói chung

"Chung" means "common", "general", but it also has a homophone SV root meaning "end" - which gives it two meanings:

Meaning #1: "In general" or "Generally"

Meaning #2: "To conclude", "to sum up"
In a colloquial sense, it works as a signal "Let's settle on this conclusion, I don't want to talk about it anymore, switch the topic".

In some cases, it can mean either, but it some cases, it can only mean either of them. The best strategy is probably to try both and see which one makes sense.

## Modal Verbs

### Different meaning of "được" at different positions

Apart from being used for passive voice and adjective/adverb, "được" can have two meanings as a modal particles, depending on where it stands. Look at these two sentences for example:

Tôi ***được*** chạy.
Tôi chạy ***được***.

What is the difference between these sentences? When standing **before verb**, it means **be allowed to**, while standing **after verb**, it mean **be able to**. So, the first sentence means "I am allowed to run", while the second one means "I can run".

### Vietnamese vs. English differences

In English, ***must + V*** means you ***have to do*** something, but ***must not + V*** doesn't mean you don't have to do something, but rather you are ***not allowed to do*** something.

In contrast, in Vietnamese, ***phải + V*** means you ***have to do*** something, and ***không phải + V*** means you ***don't have to do*** something.

If you want to say you are ***not allowed to do something***, you should say ***không được + V***, where *được* here means "is allowed to do something".

## Past

Technically, Vietnamese doesn't have tense like English or other European languages.

In Vietnamese, time is implied by adverbs or contexts instead of verb conjugation. These adverbs can be time: hôm qua (yesterday), tuần trước (last week), năm ngoái (last year), trước đây (before), 10 năm trước (10 years ago), etc. They can be also a specialized adverb for time reference - for past, it's "đã"; for continuous present, it's "đang"; for future, it's "sẽ".

To be precise, these are actually adverbs marking perfect, continuous, and prospective aspects, respectively, but with the assumption that you're without linguistic background, you can understand this as relative time reference.

Drawing time from context is harder and cannot be taught in this course. We recommend you to do further practice in real life situations to get used to Vietnamese time reference.

For convenience, colloquially, such references to past, present, and future, are called "tense" - be careful.

## Passive

In Vietnamese, sentences in passive voice distinguish between "positive" and "negative" passive.

For "positive" passive sentence, that is, when the subject of the sentence gains benefit from the action, you use "được" (gain) as the copula. For "negative" passive sentence, that is, when the subject lose something because of the action, you use "bị" (suffer).

How to form a passive voice sentence:
Active voice: S + V + O
--> English passive: O + be + past participle [+ by S]
--> Vietnamese passive: O + bị/được [+ S] + V

Example:

"Anh ấy đã bị **[ai đó]** nhìn thấy trong khi đang bán cái điện thoại của tôi."
"He was seen **[by someone]** while selling my phone."

## Education

Nghiên cứu vs. học

These both words can be translated to English as "study". However, their usages are not the same in Vietnamese. Generally, nghiên cứu results in new knowledge, while học is studying a pre-existing knowledge. A rule of thumb is, when it's possible to replace "study" with "research", then it's nghiên cứu; when it's replaceable with "learn", then it's học.

## Common Phrases 3

rồi = then = t/lai

rồi = already = q/khứ

đến lúc + sb + phải + rồi

cho đến + time reference.

Because a clause (S+V) in Vietnamese can't be a time reference, unlike in English, so you can't say "...cho đến tôi làm xong việc này" but it must be "cho đến **khi** tôi làm xong việc này". That's why "until" is usually translated as "cho đến khi" when it stands alone.

"Hôm nay" is already a time reference, so it doesn't need "khi" to turn it to be. You will see this comes up in other exercises.

## Determiners

điều này điều đó

tất cả không ai

## Politics

### Tổng thống or Chủ tịch nước?

There are two titles for head of state in Vietnamese that are both translated into English as "president": Tổng thống and Chủ tịch nước.

Chủ tịch nước is a title of a president of a communist country, such as Vietnam, China, or Cuba. Tổng thống is for other countries.

In the exercise, we only introduce Tổng thống, which is applied for American president. However, both answers are accepted.

## Classifiers 2

mảnh - mảnh đất -> đặt sau bài nature

giấc mơ =/ ước mơ

## Medical

### How to talk about illness

In Vietnamese, to talk about illness, you can say:
`<subject> + <illness name>`

However, you can also use passive voice (which is, in fact, the more preferred way):
`<subject> + bị + <illness name>`

Note that "bị" is linked with negativity. Illness is certainly a negative thing.

chú ý classifier được dạy kèm từ vựng chỉ bộ phận cơ thể - ckhadung

## Astronomy

closet to sth = gần sth nhất Name of planets: Sao + Name or Name + Tinh (Sino-Vietnamese)

## Vietnam

### Thờ vs. tôn thờ

English "worship" can be translated to Vietnamese as *thờ* or *tôn thờ*. These two words have different meaning.

To *thờ* someone, that person must be either dead or a deity, and this act is a religious ritual. On the other hand, you can *tôn thờ* any living person, or probably not a person, like your idol; this act is not religious. Sometimes *tôn thờ* can be religious as well, but that's for deities exclusively.

Synonyms of *tôn thờ* are: tôn sùng, thần tượng, sùng bái
Synonym of *thờ*: cúng, thờ cúng

Examples:

* Ở Việt Nam, người ta *thờ* ông bà tổ tiên. (In Vietnam, people worship their ancestors)
* Những người theo đạo Thiên Chúa *thờ* Giê-xu. (Christians worship Jesus).
* Bạn không nên *tôn thờ* người khác. (You should not worship/idolize other people).

## Abstract Objects 3

noun + gì = any (dùng trong câu phủ định)

## Military

With vehicle, classifier = chiếc. need to note in grammar Classifier quả for tên lửa

## Reduplicative Words

*dõng dạc* = adv more than adj

*dính dáng* = use in negative sense most of the time

## Informal Expressions

Note on overprice: use as verb here, but usually use as adj

Cơm bụi (lit. dust meal) is a cheap meal that is served at working-class restaurant. There are several explanations on the etymology of this word, one of which is that these street restaurants are sometimes on the sidewalk, so there is dust from the street.
Because this is hard to translate, it'll be translated as "working-class meal" like in this article: https://www.thenewhanoian.com/tw/hanoi/cat/406/com-binh-dan-hanoi