Learn how to use the comparative
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Brandon: Hey there! I’m Brandon, and welcome back to VietnamesePod101.com. This is lower beginner Season 1, Lesson 6 - Deciding on Dinner in Vietnam |
| Huyen: Xin chào! I’m Huyen. |
| Brandon: In this lesson you will learn how to use comparatives in Vietnamese. The conversation takes place at a speaker’s house, and is between Minh and her aunt. |
| Huyen: They are family members, so they will be using informal Vietnamese, but Minh will be speaking in a respectful tone to her aunt. |
| Brandon: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Nga: Minh ơi, đi chợ với cô không? |
| Minh: Vâng ạ. |
| Nga: Hôm nay cháu thích ăn thịt bò hay thịt gà? |
| Minh: Thịt bò đi ạ. Thịt bò ngon hơn thịt gà. |
| Nga: Ừ, bò bít tết nhé. |
| Minh: Vâng, quá tuyệt ạ. |
| Brandon: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Nga: Minh ơi, đi chợ với cô không? |
| Minh: Vâng ạ. |
| Nga: Hôm nay cháu thích ăn thịt bò hay thịt gà? |
| Minh: Thịt bò đi ạ. Thịt bò ngon hơn thịt gà. |
| Nga: Ừ, bò bít tết nhé. |
| Minh: Vâng, quá tuyệt ạ. |
| Brandon: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Nga: Minh ơi, đi chợ với cô không? |
| Brandon: Hey Minh, do you want to go to the market with me? |
| Minh: Vâng ạ. |
| Brandon: Yes, aunt. |
| Nga: Hôm nay cháu thích ăn thịt bò hay thịt gà? |
| Brandon: Would you like beef or chicken for today? |
| Minh: Thịt bò đi ạ. Thịt bò ngon hơn thịt gà. |
| Brandon: Beef. Beef is more delicious than chicken. |
| Nga: Ừ, bò bít tết nhé. |
| Brandon: Okay, how about beef steak? |
| Minh: Vâng, quá tuyệt ạ. |
| Brandon: Yeah, awesome. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Brandon: Huyen, how do Vietnamese people prepare meals? Do they often eat out? |
| Huyen: Vietnamese people really value a family meal, because they think it is a great time for family members to see each other and share their daily stories. Unless they are too busy, they prefer eating at home on weekdays. They eat out more on weekends. |
| Brandon: Who cooks the meal? Is it mostly done by women? |
| Huyen: Yes, that’s right. The women in the family, such as the mother, wife, or daughter, are the main cooks. |
| Brandon: Where do they go shopping for food? |
| Huyen: They shop at outdoor markets in the early morning or late afternoon after they finish work. This is because they have cheaper and fresher food there, than at supermarkets. |
| Brandon: Don’t they go to the supermarket? |
| Huyen: They do. Working women shop more in the supermarket, because the outdoor market is usually open and closed very early. |
| Brandon: Is it a trend to shop at the supermarket nowadays? |
| Huyen: You could say so. Supermarkets are more convenient and the food there is believed to be safer in terms of sanitation. But there are still outdoor markets in most residential areas. Many people think that a house near a market is a great living location. |
| Brandon Listeners, make sure you check out the outdoor market when you’re in Vietnam! Now let’s move on to the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Brandon: The first word we shall see is: |
| Huyen: chợ [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: "market" |
| Huyen: chợ [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: chợ [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: cô/cháu [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: I, me, you |
| Huyen: cô/cháu [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: cô/cháu [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: thích [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to like, to love |
| Huyen: thích [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: thích [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: thịt bò [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: beef |
| Huyen: thịt bò [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: thịt bò [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: thịt gà [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: chicken |
| Huyen: thịt gà [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: thịt gà [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: ngon [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: delicious |
| Huyen: ngon [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: ngon [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: hơn [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: more |
| Huyen: hơn [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: hơn [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: bò bít tết [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: beef steak |
| Huyen: bò bít tết [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: bò bít tết [natural native speed] |
| And Last: |
| Huyen: tuyệt [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: great, wonderful, awesome |
| Huyen: tuyệt [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: tuyệt [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. The first word is... |
| Huyen: chợ |
| Brandon: It refers to the outdoor market where fresh food and vegetables are sold. As you know, Vietnamese people usually buy food and ingredients at those markets, the verb phrase… |
| Huyen: đi chợ, literally “go to the market” |
| Brandon: ...refers to the act of going shopping for food in general. |
| Huyen: “Đi chợ” is the common topic among housewives. It can be a greeting when two women meet each other in the morning or late afternoon. |
| Brandon: Instead of saying hello, they may say: |
| Huyen: Chị đi chợ à? |
| Brandon: Are you going to the market? |
| Huyen: Chị đi chợ chưa? |
| Brandon: Have you gone to the market? |
| Huyen: Chị vừa đi chợ về à? |
| Brandon: Have you just returned from the market? |
| Huyen: Secondly, we have a pair of pronouns: cô - cháu |
| Brandon: This is equivalent to “I or me” and “you”. They are used when a person is talking with their aunt or a woman around their aunt’s age, about 15 years older. |
| Huyen: The older woman in this case calls herself “cô” and the other “cháu” regardless of the gender. The younger person, regardless of the gender, calls himself or herself “cháu” and calls the older one “cô”. |
| Brandon: For example, a person - who is the first speaker - is saying to their aunt, or a woman around their aunt’s age: |
| Huyen: Cháu sẽ đến thăm cô vào chủ nhật này. |
| Brandon: I will come visit you this Sunday. |
| Huyen: A woman is saying to her niece or nephew, or someone about 15 years younger: “Cháu làm xong báo cáo thì gửi cho cô nhé” |
| Brandon: Send me the report after you finish it. |
| Huyen: Finally, we will learn the equivalents for an animal and its meat. |
| Brandon: In English, in most cases, the word referring to the animal is different from the word referring to its meat. |
| Huyen: In Vietnamese, if you want to mention the meat of any animal, simply add the word “thịt” meaning “meat” in front of the name of the animal. |
| Brandon: For example, in English the meat of a cow is called beef. |
| Huyen: In Vietnamese, a cow is called “bò” and its meat is called “thịt bò”. |
| Brandon: All the same, a pig is called… |
| Huyen: lợn, and its meat is called “thịt lợn”. |
| Brandon: Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Brandon: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use comparatives. |
| Huyen: In the dialogue, we had Thịt bò ngon hơn thịt gà. |
| Brandon: "Beef is more delicious than chicken" |
| Huyen: To change an adjective or adverb into its comparative form, simply add the word “hơn” meaning “more” right after that adjective or adverb. |
| Brandon: This rule applies to all adjectives and adverbs in Vietnamese, whether they are singular, or compound adjectives and adverbs. |
| Huyen: For example: đẹp hơn |
| Brandon: “more beautiful” or “nicer” |
| Huyen: nhanh hơn |
| Brandon: “quicker”, or, “faster” |
| Huyen: giỏi hơn, tốt hơn |
| Brandon: better |
| Huyen: chăm chỉ hơn |
| Brandon: more hardworking |
| Huyen: hiệu quả hơn |
| Brandon: “more effective”, or, “more efficient.” To put a comparative form of an adjective in a sentence, start with the subject, followed by the adjective. |
| Huyen: Then, add “hơn”, and finally the noun indicating the person or thing that is being compared with the subject. |
| Brandon: Let’s hear some examples. |
| Huyen: Cô ấy cao hơn tôi. |
| Brandon: "She is taller than me" |
| Huyen: Anh ấy thông minh hơn các bạn cùng tuổi . |
| Brandon: "He is smarter" or "more intelligent than friends of the same age". |
| Huyen: “thông minh” means “smart, or, intelligent” |
| Brandon: To put a comparative form of an adverb in a sentence, start with the subject, followed by the verb, then the object if any. |
| Huyen: Next comes the adverb to supplement the verb, then add “hơn” after the adverb. |
| Brandon: Finally add another subject and verb phrase to compare with what was mentioned in the first clause. The verb phrase of the second clause can be omitted if it is the same as the first clause. For example: |
| Huyen: Chị tôi học giỏi hơn tôi.. |
| Brandon: "My elder sister learns better than me" |
| Huyen: Anh ấy làm việc hiệu quả hơn các đồng nghiệp. |
| Brandon: “He works more efficiently than his colleagues” To learn more about the use of adjectives and adverbs, please refer to the accompanying lesson notes. |
Outro |
| Huyen: Listeners, now you should be able to use Vietnamese to compare any two people or things! |
| Brandon: Well, that’s all for this lesson. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time. Bye! |
| Huyen: Tạm biệt. |
| MARKETING PIECE |
| Brandon: Listeners, ever have any Vietnamese language or lesson-related questions? |
| Huyen: Or maybe you have some feedback for us... |
| Brandon: Leave us a comment or ask a question on the lessons page! |
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| Huyen: Commenting is a great way to practice writing and reading in Vietnamese. |
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| Huyen: And it helps us get better through your feedback. |
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| Brandon: NOW! |
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