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A Vietnamese adjective works like a verb: it can be the whole predicate of a sentence with no "to be" in front of it.
"rất" = "very".
"lắm" = "very / a lot", placed AFTER the adjective: ngon lắm = "very tasty".
"quá" after an adjective is an exclamatory "so…!" (đẹp quá!
"hơn" makes the comparative "more … than".
"nhất" makes the superlative "the most / -est".
"bằng" expresses equality: "as … as".
"như" means "like / as".
"càng … càng …" = "the more … the more …".
Người Việt không nói "một bàn" — phải nói "một cái bàn". Cái nhỏ xíu đó tên là loại từ, và mỗi danh từ có loại từ riêng: con cho động vật, cái cho đồ vật, cuốn cho sách, tờ cho giấy. Bạn sẽ học bộ loại từ thông dụng nhất, đủ để nói chuyện hằng ngày mà không bị "lộ" là người mới học.
The classifier for living creatures — animals, fish and birds — and, by fixed expression, a handful of objects (a knife, a road, a river, an eye, a boat).
The classifier/word for people.
Classifier for vehicles and machines, and the special classifier for one item out of a matching pair (one shoe, one chopstick).
A classifier for books, notebooks and bound volumes.
The Southern classifier for books and bound volumes — sách, vở, từ điển, tiểu thuyết.
Classifier for flat sheets and anything printed on paper — a sheet of paper, a newspaper, a magazine, a flyer, a form, a banknote.
Classifier for flat framed or wall-like things: photos, paintings, letters, and wall-type objects (a wall, a curtain).
Classifier for small dwellings and rooms — a (small) house, an apartment, a room.
Classifier for buildings in general (houses, community halls, tombs) and a few special nouns — notably a star (ngôi sao).
"Này", "đó", "kia" — ba chữ nghe đơn giản nhưng dùng sai là người ta nhìn theo hướng khác liền. Chương này phân biệt cho bạn cái nào gần mình, cái nào gần người kia, cái nào xa cả hai — kèm thêm các biến thể Nam bộ ("nầy", "đó", "đằng kia") mà sách giáo khoa miền Bắc ít khi nhắc tới.
Sentence-final 'này' is a pointing particle — it tags the preceding thing as RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW, and often comes paired with an actual gesture.
The word "đó" in Southern Vietnamese is a versatile particle that adds emphasis or vagueness to a sentence.
Kia is the 'far from us' member of Vietnamese's three-way pointing system, indicating a person, object, or place that is distant from both the speaker and the listener — roughly English 'that one over there'.
The demonstrative "ấy" means "that" — pointing at someone or something already mentioned, the person or thing you both have in mind.
"cũng" means "also / too" before a verb, echoing what someone else does.
"không những ...
"có ...
"quá trời" is the signature Southern intensifier: "so ...
"thật" means "really / truly." After an adjective it gives a sincere exclamation with a note of affirmation ("Đẹp thật!" = It is really beautiful!).
"trời ơi" (lit.
"biết bao" means "so much / so many / how much" with an exclamatory, emotional colour.
cho = "give" (a verb on its own) and also "to / for" (a preposition that introduces the receiver).
tặng = "give (as a gift), present." Same construction as cho but specifically for presents and honours.
biếu = "give (respectfully), present up to" an elder or someone you honour.
trả = "return, give back" (and by extension "pay").
gửi = "send." A verb that acts on the thing first, so the receiver is introduced by cho: gửi + thing + cho + receiver (or gửi + cho + receiver + thing when the thing is long).
nhận = "receive, accept, get." A receiving verb.
mượn = "borrow" (a non-money thing, to be returned).
vay = "borrow (money)" — you return an equivalent, often with interest.
cho mượn / cho vay = the Vietnamese way to say "lend." There is NO single verb for "lend"; you stack cho ("let") + the borrow verb (mượn for things, vay for money).
nhờ = "ask someone (politely) to do a favour." A causative: nhờ + person + verb2 + … The person does the action because you asked.
bảo = "tell / instruct someone to do something" (mild authority).
sai = "order / send someone (under you) to do something." The strongest everyday causative.
khiến / làm (cho) = "cause / make (something happen / someone feel)." A causative of result, not of orders.
để = "let / allow (someone to do something)." A permissive causative: để + person + verb2.
"hãy" goes right in front of the verb to give a firm command or a "let's …" call to action.
"đừng" goes in front of the verb to make a negative command — "don't …".
"cứ" goes in front of the verb to mean "go ahead and …" / "feel free to …" — it encourages someone to do something without hesitating or waiting.
At the END of a command, "đi" is a friendly softener — "go on / go ahead and do it." It nudges someone to start or get on with an action.
At the end of a sentence, "nhé / nha" adds a warm "okay?
"mời" literally means "to invite." Placed before a second-person pronoun, it makes a polite invitation — the Vietnamese "please …": Mời chị vào (please come in).
"chớ" goes in front of the verb to warn someone NOT to do something — a firmer, more advisory "don't" than đừng.
"không được" goes in front of the verb to express a prohibition — "you may not / it's not allowed." It states a rule rather than giving advice.
Muốn nói "tôi có thể", "tôi phải", "tôi nên" trong tiếng Việt thì dùng các trợ động từ "có thể", "phải", "nên", "được". Chương này gom hết các chữ này lại, chỉ rõ chữ nào dùng cho phép, chữ nào cho khả năng, chữ nào cho nghĩa vụ — để bạn nói câu nào ra câu đó, không lẫn lộn.
the structures the speaker uses to ask about the listener's ability and permission.
A post-verb marker that adds an 'unlucky' or 'accidental' flavour to the verb — the speaker had the misfortune of ending up doing the verb to something negative.
Cần is the standard Vietnamese modal for need, used either before another verb to mark a necessary action (cần đi = need to go) or before a noun to mark a needed thing (cần một ly cà phê = need a coffee).
Dám is the Vietnamese modal for 'dare' — the courage (or lack of it) to do something.
Định is the Vietnamese modal for 'plan to / intend to' — what you mean to do, your settled intention.
Muốn is the Vietnamese modal for 'want / would like to.' It sits before another verb (muốn đi = want to go).
Nên is the Vietnamese modal for 'should / ought to' — used to give advice or say what you think is right for someone to do.
Muốn nói "không" trong tiếng Việt phải biết chọn đúng chữ: "không" cho chuyện thường, "chưa" cho chuyện chưa làm, "đâu" cho lúc cãi lại. Sai một chữ là ý nghĩa lệch hẳn — chương này giúp bạn không bao giờ nói "tôi chưa đói" khi thật ra bạn muốn nói "tôi không đói".
The all-purpose negator "not." Placed directly before a verb or adjective to negate it.
A sentence-final particle that turns a statement into an emphatic / contradicting denial — "...not at all," "...no it isn't," "...you're wrong about that." Usually pairs with a negator (không / có ...
A casual, attitude-loaded substitute for "không" (not).
An emphatic denial phrase — "no way," "not at all," "I did NOT." Placed right after the subject and before the verb, it forcefully rejects what was just said or assumed.
Two negatives in one clause that cancel out to a STRONG positive — "there's no one who doesn't…," "you can't not…" = "everyone does / you absolutely must." Built on fixed frames, not free word-stacking.
A two-part negation frame: "không" before the verb/adjective + "đâu" at the very end.
The counting numbers.
Rank/order numbers built by putting "thứ" before the cardinal: thứ hai (second), thứ ba (third).
Decimals use a comma read as "phẩy" (10,8 = mười phẩy tám); a zero after it forces "không" (10,08 = mười phẩy không tám).
Vietnamese dates go small-to-large: ngày (day) → tháng (month) → năm (year).
Time uses giờ (o'clock), phút (minute), giây (second).
Vague quantifiers for "a few / some / several." vài and mấy mean "a few / several" and sit before a classifier + noun; một vài leans to "two or three"; dăm ba / vài ba mean "a few" (around 2-5) in casual speech.
Comparing against a number: hơn = "more than" (before the number).
Two nouns for "pair / couple." đôi pairs naturally matched items: đôi giày (a pair of shoes), đôi đũa (chopsticks), đôi tay (hands).
"được" marks a passive where something GOOD or wanted happens (subject + được + [agent] + verb).
"do" is a neutral passive marker (neither good nor bad) that highlights WHO did it.
"bởi" = "by", a formal agent marker used together with được/bị when the verb describes a habitual/general state and the agent is usually NOT a person: subject + được/bị + verb + bởi + agent.
Plural marker that points at a specific, limited set of things or people — "the (certain) ones, some, those particular".
Plural marker that sweeps up the entire set — "all the…, the (whole group of)…".
Determiner meaning "the whole / all of" before a single group, item, or time span (cả nhà, cả ngày).
Determiner meaning "all, all of" — stresses that every member of a set is included, considered individually.
Determiner meaning "every / all" placed directly before a bare countable noun (no plural marker): mọi người, mọi nơi, mọi lúc.
Determiner meaning "each" — singles out every individual member separately, before a bare noun.
Determiner meaning "each, one by one" — like mỗi, but stressing the idea of working through the members in sequence, one after another.
Determiner meaning "the entire / the whole of", used before a (usually two-syllable) noun referring to something as a single whole.
Determiner meaning "the entire / all of", used before a one-syllable noun naming a body or area as a whole: toàn dân, toàn trường, toàn thành phố.
Adverb placed after the subject and before the verb to mean "all / both (of them) do/are…".
The three neutral "I/you" pronouns Vietnamese reaches for when no kinship relationship is set yet.
The most common everyday "I/you" pair, borrowed from family words: "anh" = older male, "em" = younger person.
The "I/you" pair for an older female and a younger person: "chị" = older sister/woman, "em" = the younger one.
A warm, friendly "I" for casual talk between equals — and also the reflexive "-self" (myself, himself, herself).
The possessive linker, like English "of" or "'s".
Respectful address for a parent-aged woman (cô) and man (chú) — your father's younger sister/brother in family use, and any "auntie/uncle" of that generation outside the family.
A respectful term for an older person of EITHER gender — typically someone older than your parents but not yet grandparent-aged.
Aunt on the MOTHER's side — your mother's sister (elder or younger) in the Southern family system.
Grandparent-level terms: "ông" = grandfather / elderly man, "bà" = grandmother / elderly woman.
The child↔parent address set.
A two-generation term: "grandchild" AND "niece/nephew".
Third-person "he/she" built by adding "ấy" ("that") to a kinship term: anh ấy = he, chị ấy = she, cô ấy = she (the woman), ông ấy = he (the old man).
A neutral, somewhat cool "they" for a group of people outside the conversation.
A familiar third-person "he/she/it" for children, animals, and things — and for close peers in casual talk.
Two kinds of "we".
Uniquely Southern one-syllable contractions of third-person pronouns: ổng = ông ấy (he, old man), bả = bà ấy (she, old woman), cổ = cô ấy (she).
Hỏi trong tiếng Việt nhẹ nhàng lắm — không cần đảo trật tự câu, chỉ thêm "không", "à", "hả", "phải không" cuối câu là xong. Chương này dạy bạn hỏi sao cho lịch sự, hỏi sao cho thân mật, và quan trọng nhất là hiểu được câu trả lời người Sài Gòn nói lại.
Soft sentence-final particle that turns a statement into a friendly "…, is that so?
Very casual sentence-final particle.
Confirming frame: "có phải [X] không?" = "is it true that …?
The "have you … yet?" frame.
End-of-sentence tag question, like English "…, right?
Sentence-final particle that asks for agreement you're almost sure of — "…, right?
End tag for asking permission or whether something is possible — like English "…, OK?
The "or" of choice questions.
"Ai" is "who" AND "whom" — one word for both.
"Nào" is "which", used to pick from a known, limited set.
"Ở đâu" means "where" (a static location) and goes to the END of the question — the opposite of English fronting: "Bạn làm việc ở đâu?".
"Khi nào" and "bao giờ" both mean "when" (interchangeable in the South).
"Tại sao / vì sao / sao" all mean "why" (for what reason) and sit at the FRONT — like English.
"Bao nhiêu" asks "how many / how much" for any quantity (often larger or unknown), and is the ONLY choice for uncountable "how much" (money, time).
"Mấy" asks "how many" when you expect a SMALL number (under ~10), and is the default for clock time, dates and weekdays ("Mấy giờ rồi?", "Hôm nay ngày mấy?").
"Thế nào / như thế nào" means "how" — in what manner or state.
"Để làm gì" means "for what purpose" — literally "in order to do what".
"Ai mà …" is a rhetorical frame that looks like "who" but means "nobody / as if anyone would".
Rhetorical questions look like questions but expect no answer — they make a point.
The word "đang" marks an action that is in progress — something happening right now, or ongoing at the time you are talking about.
The word "sẽ" points an action into the future — "will" or "be going to".
The word "rồi" means "already" and lives at the END of a sentence to mark an action as completed or as a change of state that has now taken effect.
The words "vừa", "mới" and the combined "vừa mới" all mean "just" — an action finished only a moment ago, in the very recent past.
The word "sắp" marks the immediate future — an action about to happen at any moment ("about to / be going to").
Chưa is the "not yet" word.
Vẫn, còn, and vẫn còn all mean "still" — a state or action that began earlier and continues unchanged now.
Xong means "finished / done" and goes AFTER the verb, focusing on the process reaching its end.
Hết does three jobs by position.
Hẳn goes after the verb to stress that an action is completely done and its result is visible right now ("completely / for good").
Reduplication ("từ láy") makes a new word by echoing a base word in whole or in part.
Compounding ("từ ghép") builds a new word by joining two base words.
Loanwords ("từ mượn") are words Vietnamese borrowed from other languages.
