Learn how to use the present perfect tense
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Brandon: Hey there! I’m Brandon and welcome back to VietnamesePod101.com. This is lower beginner Season 1, Lesson 21 - Which Vietnamese Sights Have You Seen? |
| Huyen: Xin chào! I’m Huyen. |
| Brandon: In this lesson, you'll learn how to talk about things that have happened recently or your experiences. The conversation takes place at a cafe and is between An and Jim. |
| Huyen: The speakers are friends, so they'll be using informal Vietnamese |
| Brandon: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| An: Cậu thấy Hà Nội thế nào? |
| Jim: Hà Nội vừa hiện đại vừa cổ kính. |
| An: Cậu đã đi thăm những nơi nào rồi? |
| Jim: Tớ đã thăm Văn Miếu, phố cổ và lăng Bác rồi. |
| An: Cậu thích nơi nào nhất? |
| Jim: Tớ thích nhất là Văn Miếu. |
| Brandon: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| An: Cậu thấy Hà Nội thế nào? |
| Jim: Hà Nội vừa hiện đại vừa cổ kính. |
| An: Cậu đã đi thăm những nơi nào rồi? |
| Jim: Tớ đã thăm Văn Miếu, phố cổ và lăng Bác rồi. |
| An: Cậu thích nơi nào nhất? |
| Jim: Tớ thích nhất là Văn Miếu. |
| Brandon: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| An: Cậu thấy Hà Nội thế nào? |
| Brandon: What do you think about Ha Noi? |
| Jim: Hà Nội vừa hiện đại vừa cổ kính. |
| Brandon: Ha Noi is on one hand modern, and on the other hand, ancient. |
| An: Cẩuu đã đi thăm những nơi nào rồi? |
| Brandon: What places have you visited? |
| Jim: Tớ đã thăm Văn Miếu, phố cổ và lăng Bác rồi. |
| Brandon: I've visited the Temple of Literature, the old quarters, and Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. |
| An: Cậu thích nơi nào nhất? |
| Brandon: Which do you like the best? |
| Jim: Tớ thích nhất là Văn Miếu. |
| Brandon: I like the Temple of Literature the best. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Brandon: Huyen, could you tell our listeners something about the Temple of Literature? |
| Huyen: Sure. In Vietnamese, it's called “Văn Miếu - Quốc Tử Giám,” which is translated as “Temple of Literature - Imperial Academy”. It's the first university in Vietnam. |
| Brandon: Oh, so it’s a historical spot. When was it built? |
| Huyen: It was built in 1070 CE under the Lý Dynasty. It's a temple of Confucius, which is dedicated to sages and scholars. |
| Brandon: And in the template, you can also find 82 stelae of doctors. Each stela is a carved stone turtle, which depicts the names of all doctors that passed the 82 royal exams. They stand for talent and academic success. Huyen, why did they choose turtles? Is it a holy creature in the Vietnamese culture? |
| Huyen: It is. The turtle is the symbol of longevity. |
| Brandon Oh I see, so the stone turtles with names of successful scholars carved on them are meant to honor their talents. Today, the Temple of Literature is a well-known tourist spot in Hanoi, a place to honor talented students, and a place for students to pray for academic success. |
| Huyen: Vietnamese students believe that touching the turtle heads in Văn Miếu will bring them good luck in their exams. |
| Brandon: Okay, now let’s move on to the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Brandon: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Huyen: vừa...vừa... [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: both...and…, ...as well as…, on one hand…, on the other hand... |
| Huyen: vừa...vừa... [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: vừa...vừa... [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: hiện đại [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: modern |
| Huyen: hiện đại [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: hiện đại [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: cổ kính [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: antique |
| Huyen: cổ kính [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: cổ kính [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: nơi [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: place, spot |
| Huyen: nơi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: nơi [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: thăm [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to visit |
| Huyen: thăm [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: thăm [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: Văn Miếu [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Temple of Literature |
| Huyen: Văn Miếu [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: Văn Miếu [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: Lăng Bác [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum |
| Huyen: Lăng Bác [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: Lăng Bác [natural native speed] |
| And Last: |
| Huyen: thích...nhất [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to like...the most |
| Huyen: thích...nhất [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: thích...nhất [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Brandon: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. First we have |
| Huyen: vừa.[something]..vừa. [something].. |
| Brandon: It can mean "both...and...", "as well as", or "on one hand….on the other hand." This is a pair of conjunctions is used to express two actions at the same time, or two character traits of people or things. |
| Huyen: To express two actions that are being done at the same time, put the two verbs indicating those actions after “vừa”. |
| Brandon: Let’s hear an example. |
| Huyen: Cô ấy vừa đi học vừa đi làm. |
| Brandon: "She studies and works at the same time." |
| Huyen: To describe the traits of people or things, put two adjectives or a verb phrase after “vừa” |
| Brandon: When you’re using two adjectives… |
| Huyen: Cô ấy vừa đẹp vừa có tài. |
| Brandon: "She's both beautiful and talented." |
| Huyen: When you’re using verbs and adverbs, Mai vừa học giỏi vừa hát hay. |
| Brandon: “Mai studies well and also sings beautifully.” And when you’re using both a verb phrase and an adjective... |
| Huyen: Lan vừa nấu ăn ngon vừa dịu dàng. |
| Brandon: "Lan is good at cooking, as well as gentle." |
| Huyen: Secondly, we have “lăng Bác” |
| Brandon: Literally, “Uncle’s mausoleum”. |
| Huyen: Its full name is “Lăng chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh” |
| Brandon: "Ho Chi Minh President’s Mausoleum." It is located in Ha Noi. It's where the embalmed body of Vietnam’s greatest leader and hero is preserved. |
| Brandon: The final word is… |
| Huyen: thích.[something]..nhất…[something] |
| Brandon: "to like something the most, or, the best." |
| Huyen: A verb phrase, noun, or noun phrase can be put between “thích” and “nhất”. |
| Brandon: If you’re using a verb phrase... |
| Huyen: Tôi thích ăn dâu tây nhất. |
| Brandon: "I like to eat strawberries the best. Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Brandon: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the present perfect tense. |
| Huyen: Tớ đã thăm Văn Miếu, phố cổ và lăng Bác rồi. |
| Brandon: "I've visited the Temple of Literature, the old quarter, and Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum." |
| Huyen: The present perfect tense is formed by adding the adverb “đã”, meaning “already,” before the verb and its object, followed with “rồi”, which also means “already”. |
| Brandon: The verb here is not conjugated, so it's kept in its stem form. Like in English, the present perfect tense in Vietnamese describes experience, incomplete actions, recent activities, changes over time, or accomplishments. |
| Brandon: Let’s give our listeners an example. |
| Huyen: Sure thing. Tôi đã xem phim này hai lần rồi. |
| Brandon: "I've seen this movie twice" |
| Huyen: “Đã.[something]..rồi” can also express the nuance of the present perfect continuous tense and it's usually used with a phrase of time duration. For example, Mai đã đọc quyển sách đó hai tuần rồi |
| Brandon: "Mai has been reading that book for two weeks." |
| Huyen: The simple past tense that we learned in the Absolute Beginner Series is also formed by using “đã” and “rồi”. |
| Brandon: This is easily mistaken with the present perfect tense in this lesson. The only way to distinguish them is by a time phrase. |
| Huyen: To change into negative form, replace “đã” with “chưa”, which means “not yet” and remove “rồi” at the end. |
| Brandon: Keep the rest of the sentence unchanged. For example.. |
| Huyen: Tôi chưa xem phim này. |
| Brandon: “I haven’t seen this movie.” Okay, Huyen. What about the question form? |
| Huyen: That’s pretty simple. Just replace “rồi” with “chưa” at the end of the sentence. The rest of the sentence remains the same. For example, Anh đã xem phim này chưa? |
| Brandon: "Have you seen this movie?" |
| Huyen: Mai đã xem phim này chưa? |
| Brandon Has Mai seen this movie? |
| Hyuen To describe an experience you have had, use “đã từng,” meaning “have ever,” in place of “đã”. |
| Brandon: And keep the rest of the sentence the same. |
| Huyen: Its negative form is “chưa từng” meaning "have never." |
| Brandon: And to ask a question, say... |
| Huyen: “đã từng” followed by a verb and its object, then add “chưa” at the end. |
| Brandon: Here are some examples. |
| Huyen: Tôi đã từng xem phim kinh dị khi ở nhà một mình rồi. |
| Brandon: “I've watched a horror movie when staying home alone.” |
| Huyen: Anh ấy chưa từng ăn bằng tay. |
| Brandon: “He has never eaten by using only his hands” |
| Huyen: Bạn đã từng đến Hà Nội chưa? |
| Brandon: "Have you ever been to Ha Noi?" |
| Huyen: Well that’s all for the present perfect tense. |
Outro |
| Brandon: Make sure to read the accompanying lesson notes for a good review of what we've learned, and feel free to send us any questions or comments. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time. Bye! |
| Huyen: Tạm biệt! |
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