Language/Vietnamese/Grammar/Negation

Vietnamese Grammar - Negation

Hi Vietnamese learners! 😊

In this lesson, we will learn how to negate sentences in Vietnamese. Negation in Vietnamese can be a bit tricky, but with some practice, you will master it in no time!

After mastering this lesson, these related pages might interest you: Plurals, Ask Questions, Nouns and Gender & Articles.

Negation with "Không"

The most common way to negate a sentence in Vietnamese is to use the word "không" which means "no" or "not". In Vietnamese, "không" is placed in front of the verb to negate it.

Let's take the following sentence as an example:

• Tôi là người Việt Nam. (I am Vietnamese.)

To negate this sentence, we add "không" before the verb "là" which means "am". The negated sentence would then be:

• Tôi không là người Việt Nam. (I am not Vietnamese.)

Let's take a look at another example:

• Anh ấy đang học tiếng Việt. (He is learning Vietnamese.)

To negate this sentence, we add "không" before the verb "đang" which means "is" in this context. The negated sentence would then be:

• Anh ấy không đang học tiếng Việt. (He is not learning Vietnamese.)

Negation with "Chưa"

In addition to "không", "chưa" (not yet) can also be used to negate a sentence in Vietnamese. In this case, "chưa" is placed before the verb to indicate that something has not happened yet.

Let's take the following sentence as an example:

• Tôi đã đến Việt Nam. (I have been to Vietnam.)

To negate this sentence using "chưa", we place "chưa" before the verb "đến" which means "have been". The negated sentence would then be:

• Tôi chưa đến Việt Nam. (I have not been to Vietnam yet.)

Let's take a look at another example:

• Chúng tôi sẽ đi đến nhà hàng. (We will go to the restaurant.)

To negate this sentence using "chưa", we place "chưa" before the verb "đi" which means "will go". The negated sentence would then be:

• Chúng tôi chưa đi đến nhà hàng. (We have not gone to the restaurant yet.)

Negation with "Không phải"

"Không phải" is another way to negate a sentence in Vietnamese, which has a stronger emphasis on negation. This structure translates to "not...at all" in English.

Let's take the following sentence as an example:

• Cô ấy là giáo viên tiếng Việt. (She is a Vietnamese teacher.)

To negate this sentence with "không phải", we add "không phải" before the verb "là" which means "is". The negated sentence would then be:

• Cô ấy không phải là giáo viên tiếng Việt. (She is not a Vietnamese teacher at all.)

Let's take a look at another example:

• Anh ta đang ăn cơm. (He is eating rice.)

To negate this sentence with "không phải", we add "không phải" before the verb "đang" which means "is" in this context. The negated sentence would then be:

• Anh ta không phải đang ăn cơm. (He is not eating rice at all.)

Double Negation

In Vietnamese, it is possible to use double negation to emphasize the negativity of a sentence. However, it is important to note that using double negation is not grammatically correct in standard Vietnamese. It is used more often in spoken Vietnamese in certain regions of Vietnam.

Here's an example of a sentence with double negation:

• Tôi không đi đâu cả. (I'm not going anywhere at all.)

In this case, we use "không" to negate the verb "đi" which means "go", and "cả" (which means "any") to emphasize the negation.

Examples

The best way to learn how to use negation in Vietnamese is through practice! Let's take a look at some examples.

Vietnamese	Pronunciation	English
Tôi không biết.	[tɔ̂j kɔ̂ŋ bí-te̞]	I don't know.
Chúng tôi không hiểu.	[t͡ɕʊŋ tɔ̂j kɔ̂ŋ hjě̞u]	We don't understand.
Anh ta chưa trả lời.	[ăn ta t͡ɕɨ᷉a tɕɨ᷉a trả̂ lờ̜i]	He hasn't answered yet.
Bạn có chưa đi đến đó?	[ɓǎn kɔ̌ cɨ̂a t͡ɕɨ᷉a ɗî đɛ̂n ɗō]	Have you gone there yet?
Tôi không hiểu lắm.	[tɔ̂j kɔ̂ŋ hjêw lâm]	I don't really understand.

Dialogue

To help you understand negation, let's practice with a dialogue between two people:

• Person 1: Anh ta có đọc sách không? ([ăn ta cɔ́ ðọ̆k sâch kə̆n])
• Person 2: Không, anh ta không đọc sách. (Không, [ăn ta kə̆n ðọ̆k sâch])

• Person 1: Cô ấy đã làm việc chưa? ([kə́ wứɛ́ɕ ɟ͡ʝâ dɐ̌ lâm vjɛ̂k t͡ɕʊ᷉a])
• Person 2: Chưa, cô ấy chưa làm việc. ([t͡ɕʊ᷉a, kə́ wứɛ́ɕ t͡ɕʊ᷉a lâm vjɛ̂k])

Tips and Tricks

- To negate a sentence, use the word "không" which means "no" or "not". - "Chưa" (not yet) can also be used to negate a sentence by indicating that something has not happened yet. - "Không phải" is another way to negate a sentence, with a stronger emphasis on negation. - Double negation can be used in spoken Vietnamese to emphasize the negativity of a sentence.

To improve your Vietnamese Grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

You can find more information about Vietnamese Grammar on the Polyglot Club website.

Sources

• Vietnamese conjunctions and negations – YourVietnamese
• negation in vietnamese – YourVietnamese

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Other Lessons

• Plurals
• Personal pronouns
• Future Tense
• Questions
• Gender
• Give your Opinion
• Conditional Mood
• Ask Questions
• Nouns
• How to Use Have