Vietnamese grammar outline

Vietnamese Questions

Does ... co .... khong?

Is... co phai la ........... khong?
Does sth belong to: co phai la cua .... khong?
gi what needs to be placed after the noun when is used like which
nao is placed after the noun, there is no need for 'la' to be in between
may is placed betweeen the noun (or before the classifier, it is only used for numbers below 10
Subject + Adjective + không?
When will: Bao giờ + sentence
When did: sentence + Bao giờ
Why: Sao or “tại sao” or “Vì sao” + setence (answer with Vì+Reason)
What do you use to: “Bằng + gì” means “with what”, and is usually used to ask for tools.
How long have you: sentence + “Bao lâu rồi” (no tense markers are necessary in the sentence)
(reply is number time word and then  rồi)

Conjugaitons

Expressing or
A hay B

Wishing expressions

To wish someone something in Vietnamese, use Chúc+sentence" to express "Wish..."

Examples:
Chúc bạn phát tài phát lộc! Wishing you a prosperous new year
Chúc bạn vạn sự như ý! Wishing everything goes well

Sentence Order

plural marker + classifier + noun + adjective+ /this/that/those

Talking about location

Rather than saying 'There are something in', in Vietnamese, use location + co2 + noun
to be at/on/in is simple o
TO say where is say noun + o dau or o dau co + noun
To say where when combining with a verb of movement just use dau at the end of the
sentence
Numbers

Forming ordinals: add thứ before the number

Irregulars 1st thứ nhất 2nd thứ nhì sometimes 4th thứ tự
Monday is thứ hai
Nomallỷ place time claúe at beginning ò sentence

Expressions of time

all winter: Mùa đông đều

to snow: Có tuyết
every year in the winter: Mỗi năm mùa đông
always : Thường xuyên 常川[chángchuān]
Never: Không bao giờ never
Sometimes: Thỉnh thoảng
Adverbs of time follow the verb or insert between verb and noun
It takes one hour: sentence+ mất một tiếng
.to take certain amount of time from somewhere to somewhere by: Anh ấy đi xe ô tô từ nhà
đến ngân hàng mất hai tiếng.
Đi tàu hoả từ Niu Óoc đến Pa-ri mất ba tiếng.

Verb tenses

Past tense
Subject+Verb+(Object)+rồi means action occurred in past
Subject+đã+Verb+Object: means 'already'
Đã... rồi": can be used to together to form simple past
Subject+vừa+verb+(object): just now did sth
Subject+chưa+Verb+(Object): did not do sth
"Đã... chưa?" is used to ask whether the action happened.
Answer yes with Rồi and no with Chưa/

Expressing that someone has experienced doing sth

"Từng+verb" is used to express "having an experience of doing something".
Subject + chưa bao giờ + Verb is used to express 'has never'
Subject + từng + Verb Phrase + chưa? Is used to ask about whether one has experienced sth
To answer yes use: Rồi
To answer no use: chưa
Example: ba năm trước tôi từng sống ở Việt Nam
Notice that the time expression is usually first

Expressing 'will'
Simply use sẽ in front of verb

Useful adverbial expressions

How to say to do something together

simply add Cùng nhau before the verb (and after any tense marker)

How to say from A to B (time or distance)

"Từ... đến..." means "from...to..."

How to say the distance between A and B

A cách B

How to say only (quantities)

chỉ+ quantity (chỉ 3 ngày only three day)

How to say 'about' quantity

khoảng+Quantity
useful verbal expressions

To help someone to do sth

giúp + A + Verb+BIsto, Isso and Acquilo

to be able to/can : Subject + biết + Verb +(Object)

two verbs: Verb 1 + object 1 + verb 2 + object 2

to drive a car to/to ride a bike to lái xe đi / đạp xe đạp đi

→ note that đi meaning to go does not require a separate 'to'