Who bought the scooter?

Please see the original by artist Nguyễn Thành Phong on his Facebook page here. This page comes from a really cool comic series called K0 còi which aims to raise traffic awareness for người Hà Nội by họa sĩ Thành Phong. 🙂

xe	mẹ	mua	đua	mẹ	đánh
vehicle (car, scooter, etc.)	I (mom)	buy	race	mom	hit (punish)

So the mom told her (grown-up?) son: The scooter that I (mom) bought (xe mẹ mua), if you use dare to join a race on the street (đua), I’ll hit you (mẹ đánh).

In term of grammar, it’s a pretty good example of relative pronoun “that” (or more accurately, the lack of it). There are other points to discuss but let’s just focus on the relative pronoun “that” for today. Keep in mind that Vietnamese grammar does not correspond directly to English grammar (that’s my way of saying “if the language doesn’t make sense, it’s none of my problem”).

Cái áo	em	mới	mua	đắt	quá
Shirt	I	just	bought	expensive	too

Relative pronoun without “that”: (Cái áo) (em mới mua) (đắt quá) – the shirt I just bought is too expensive.

Cô bé	anh	gặp	hôm trước	không	chịu	cho	anh	số điện thoại
The girl	I (male)	met	the other day	not	agree to	give	me (male)	phone number

(Cô bé) (anh gặp hôm trước) (không chịu cho anh số điện thoại) – The girl that I met the other day wouldn’t give me her phone number.

Hiệu sách	không	có	quyển sách	(mà)	em	muốn	mua
Bookstore	not	have	the book	(that)	I	want to	buy

Relative pronoun with “that”: “that” in Vietnamese would be equivalent to “mà.” “Mà” is a Swiss army knife of Vietnamese words. It is used to mean many things. Its usage as “that”, the English relative pronoun, is one.

Hiệu sách không có (quyển sách) (mà em muốn mua). – The bookstore does not have the book that I want to buy.

Cái anh diễn viên	(mà)	em	rất	thích	đi lấy vợ	mất rồi
The actor	(that)	I	very much	like	got married	already

(Cái anh diễn viên) (mà em rất thích) (đi lấy vợ mất rồi). – The actor that/whom I like very much got taken already (he got married).

And here’s the parting shot. You can figure it out yourself!

“sắm” means the same thing as “mua“, and “cắm” means to pawn, “chém” means to chop, like pork chop.

PS: In terms of cultural background, this is common practice in Vietnam for the grown up child to depend on his/her parents financially and/or live with the parents well after graduating from college. For the mom to buy her grown up son a scooter is not that uncommon in Vietnam (a car is still extravagant though).

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K0 còi comics series

My favorite Vietnamese artist, Nguyễn Thành Phong, just released a new comics series to raise public awareness about traffic etiquette for Hanoian. You can see the series on his Facebook page here. I think it’s awesome.

It’s been a long time since I last found exciting stuff that comes out of Hà Nội and probably a wake up call for me to start updating the blog again.

I’ve been MIA, especially with usable content for quite a while now. One reason is that I was quite occupied at work. The other is that I have been mulling over which direction I wanted the blog to follow. If I venture into Intermediate level, I wonder how many readers I will confuse. This was never intended as a primary source to learn the language, only as a reference or points to discuss with your teacher. It’s a free hobbyist blog, which I put a lot of time into. Now imagine people who complain about my blog but don’t have any good suggestion or solution.

Anyway, whichever way the wind blows. Let Intermediate level begins. If you find it too difficult, there’s always the previous lessons which are easier, or visit everydayviet.com for absolute beginner lessons.

Hà Nội	không	vội	được	đâu
In Hanoi	not	rush	possible

Hà Nội không vội được đâu. – In Hanoi, it’s not possible to rush.

If you live in a Hanoi for a full year, any year during the last 10 years, you most likely have lived through a flood which submerged part of the city. 

But first, a little memory jogging.

(1) Remember the question “Anh có khỏe không?”

For “yes”, you answer “có“, and for “no”, you answer “không“?

(2) Remember that “được” means it’s ok or possible or you have permission to do something (it also has other usages).

Cái này	có	ăn	được	không?	Được,	cứ	ăn	đi.
This		eat	possible		Yes,	go ahead	eat

Cái này có ăn được không? Is it possible to eat this thing? (Is it edible?)

Được, cứ ăn đi. – Sure, go ahead (eat).

Anh	đi chợ	hộ	em	được không?	Không được,	anh	đang	bận	lắm
You (male)	go grocery shopping	as a favor to	me	ok?	No, I cannot	I (male)	-ing	busy	very

Anh đi chợ hộ em được không? Can you go grocery shopping for me?

Không được, anh đang bận lắm. No, I cannot. I’m really busy right now.

The point that I want to highlight to day is the structure “It’s not possible to do something…”.

Hà Nội không vội được đâu. – In Hanoi, it’s not possible to rush.

which in Vietnamese is both “someone + có + do something + được đâu” and “someone + không + do something + được đâu”

How come “có được đâu” and “không được đâu” both mean “it’s not possible…”?

And that’s where Vietnamese grammar doesn’t match up with English’s any more. You’ll just have to learn it. No easy way out. Don’t shoot the messenger (me). In particular, pay attention to the “đâu” at the end. If “đâu” doesn’t mean “where” (“ở đâu“), then it usually signifies a negative sentence.

Here are some examples:

Hôm qua	bão	to,	máy bay	có	cất cánh	được đâu.
Yesterday	storm	big,	airplane		takes off	not possible

Hôm qua bão to, máy bay có cất cánh được đâu – Yesterday there was a big storm. The airplane couldn’t take off.

Ăn	nhiều	như thế	không	giảm	cân	được đâu
Eat	so much	like that		decrease	kilogram	not possible

Ăn nhiều như thế không giảm cân được đâu – (If you) eat so much like that, it’s not possible to lose weight (giảm cân).

Romeo	có	quên	được	Juliet	đâu
	not	forget	possible

Romeo có quên được Juliet đâu – Romeo couldn’t forget Juliet

Nó	sợ	ma	quá	có	ngủ	được đâu
He/she	scared of	ghost	too much		sleep	not possible

Nó sợ ma quá có ngủ được đâu – He/she is so afraid of ghost that he/she wasn’t able to sleep.

PS:

(1) if you have good eyesight, you’ve probably spotted “xí nghiệp thoát nước số 4” on the yellow sign. It means “water drainage facility No. 4”

xí nghiệp	thoát	nước	số 4
facility, factory	escape	water	No. 4

(2) to be on a diet is “ăn kiêng“. Ex: em đang ăn kiêng để giảm cân (I’m on a diet in order to lose weight).

It’s up to You!

… and today we’ll learn how to say “It’s up to you!” in Vietnamese! You have no excuse any more 🙂

The word to remember is tùy, which means “depending on” or “up to …”

Tùy + person –> up to that person

Chúng mình	ăn	gì	bây giờ?	Tùy anh,	ăn	gì cũng được
We	eat	what	now?	Up to you,	eat	anything will do

(friends discussing what food to order) What should we eat (now)? Up to you, anything will do.

Tùy + noun –> depend on that choice / selection

Phở	ngon	hay	dở	tùy	tiệm (ăn)
Noodle	tasty	or	bad	depends on	the restaurant

Whether phở is good or bad is up to the restaurant

Tùy ý literally means “up to your liking / opinion”

Em	muốn	mua	gì	tùy ý
You	want	buy	anything	up to you

You can buy anything you like (you just won a lottery, apparently :))

Hôm nào	chúng ta	đi pic nic?	Còn	tùy	xem	thời tiết	thế nào
Which day	we	go picnic?	Still	depend	watch	weather	how

When do we go picnic? Depends on what the weather is like

Go ahead, jump off the cliff!

Use cứ when you want to say “go ahead (and do something)” in Vietnamese. It is placed before the verb: cứ + verb.

Nếu	anh	cần	máy tính	thì	cứ	mượn	nhé!
If	you	need	computer	then	go ahead	borrow

If you need a computer, (feel free to) go ahead and borrow (mine).

Em	cứ	ăn	cơm	trước	đi!
You	go ahead	eat	rice	before

You go ahead and eat (before me)!

Anh	cứ	đi	ngủ	đi!
You (male)	go ahead	go	sleep

You go ahead and sleep.

Chúng tôi	cứ	đi	xem	căn hộ	được không?
We	go ahead	go	see	apartment	ok?

Is it ok if we go ahead and take a look at the apartment?

Mọi người	cứ	đi	vào	trong	nhà	đã!
Everyone	go ahead	go	into	inside	house	first!

Everyone, go ahead and get inside the house first! (suppose a group of friends go to visit a friend’s place but not everyone is there yet, the house’s owner may say this to invite everyone inside and don’t have to wait for the last person to show up)

————–

cứ việc is similar, but it implies that since something is so obvious, you should just go ahead and do it.

Đã	trả	tiền	nhà	rồi	thì	cứ việc	dọn vào
Did	pay	money	house	already	then	go ahead	move in

If you paid the rent already, then go ahead and move in.

————–

Other grammar structures used in this lesson:

– nhé and đi are placed at the end of a sentence to make a command. You can review here.

– đã is used at the end of a sentence to say that you must do something fist, before doing something else. You can review here.

– Nếu… thì means “If… then…” You can review here.

– rồi means “already.” You can review here.

– được không? means “is it okay (to do something)?”. The review is here.

should have, instead of – đáng lẽ

Đáng lẽ is a little bit tricky to explain (and that’s why it’s intermediate level :))
It means “should have” or “instead of” with the implication that the thing that should have happened didn’t happen.
Đáng lẽ + subject (+ phải) + verb + object
Đáng lẽ + sentence 1, nhưng + sentence 2

Phải means “must” or “have to”

Nhưng means “but”

Đáng lẽ	đôi	giày	này	giá	$50	nhưng	hạ	giá	còn	$25
Should	pair	shoes	this	price	$50	but	reduce	price	remain	$25

This pair of shoes should have cost $50, but reduced price (sale) is only $25

Đáng lẽ	giờ	này	Lan	ở	nhà	nhưng	hôm nay	Lan	đi	chơi
Should	hour	this	Lan	at	home	but	today	Lan	go	play

Lan should have been at home at this hour, but today Lan goes out.

Đáng lẽ	anh	phải	tắt	máy	điều hòa	nhưng	anh	quên	mất
Should	he	have to	turn off	machine	air conditioning	but	he	forgot

He should have turned off the A/C but he forgot.

Đáng lẽ	anh	không	nên	mua	xe hơi	vì	không	có	chỗ	đậu	xe
	you (male)	not	should	buy	car	because	not	have	place	park	car

You should not have bought a car because there’s no parking.
Nên means “should” or “ought”

46 – must do something first – đã

In a previous lesson, you can use đã + verb to indicate the past tense and phải + verb to say “have to do something”.
In this lesson, we’ll learn how to say that you must do something first (before doing something else) with … phải…. đã
Subject (+ phải) + verb (+ object) + đã
It is usually used together with nhưng (but)

Tôi

muốn

đi

ăn

tối

bây giờ

nhưng

tôi

phải

làm

xong

việc

đã

I

want

go

eat

evening

now

but

I

must

work

finish

job

first

I want to go get dinner now, but I have to finish work first.

Trước khi	xin	visa	bạn	phải	khám	sức khỏe	đã
Before	ask for	visa	you	have to	examine	health	first

Before applying for a visa, you need a health exam first.

Anh	có	đi	chèo	thuyền	không?
You (male)		go	row	boat	?
Có,	nhưng	đợi	anh	đi	mua	nước	đã
Yes,	but	wait	I (male)	go	buy	water	first

Are you going rowing? Yes, but wait. I (need to) go buy water first.

Khoan đã! and Đợi đã! means “Wait!”
Từ từ! means “slow down!” or “hold on”
You will usually hear these phrases along with phải… đã…

Chúng ta	đi	bơi	đi!
We	go	swim	let’s
Từ từ,	để	anh	khóa	xe	đã
Hold on	allow	I (male)	lock	car	first

Let’s go swimming!
Hold on, let me lock the car first!