Learn about Vietnamese final particles
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Intro |
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| Antoni: What are final particles in Vietnamese? |
| Nguyet: And how are they used? |
| Antoni: At VietnamesePod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Nguyet Ngo and Ben Lee are sitting in class next to each other. Nguyet asks Ben, |
| "Do you have a pen?" |
| Nguyệt Ngô: Anh có bút không? |
| Dialogue |
| Nguyệt Ngô: Anh có bút không? |
| Ben Lee: Không, xin lỗi nhé. |
| Antoni: Once more with the English translation. |
| Nguyệt Ngô: Anh có bút không? |
| Antoni: "Do you have a pen?" |
| Ben Lee: Không, xin lỗi nhé. |
| Antoni: "No, sorry. " |
Lesson focus |
| Antoni: Sentence final particles are a common feature of many Asian languages including Vietnamese. They serve a wide range of functions ranging from evidentiality, the attitude of the speaker, to the expressing of the speaker’s feelings. In this lesson, we will introduce you to some of the most common Vietnamese sentence final particles. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Antoni: Let's start by examining their function in the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Nguyet Ngo says, "Do you have a pen?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Nguyet as Nguyet Ngo: Anh có bút không? |
| Antoni: Here, we see the sentence final particle |
| Nguyet: không |
| Antoni: It’s safe to say that this is the most-commonly occuring yes-no question particle in the Vietnamese language. It is not restricted to everyday speech but is also used in formal contexts. You will often find this particle partnered with words like |
| Nguyet: đúng |
| Antoni: which means "correct," |
| Nguyet: phải |
| Antoni: which means "right," and, |
| Nguyet: có |
| Antoni: which means "to have." For instance, you’ll find it in questions like |
| Nguyet: Chị là Hoang đúng không? |
| Antoni: or "You are Hoang, right?" or |
| Nguyet: Ngày mai chị có đi làm không? |
| Antoni: "Are you going to work tomorrow?" |
| [Recall 2] |
| Antoni: Now, let’s take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Ben Lee says "No, sorry?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Nguyet as Ben Lee: Không, xin lỗi nhé. |
| Antoni: This time, we encounter the sentence final particle, |
| Nguyet: nhé |
| Antoni: This is a convenience word that can be used in almost any context and has a lot of different functions. In this case, it’s used to make the statement sound polite or apologetic. In most cases, it’s used to draw the attention of the listener, to imply that the listener should agree with what the speaker had just said. For instance, a parent might tell their son or daughter, |
| Nguyet: Các em phải cố gắng học nhé. |
| Antoni: "You should try your best to study." In other cases, this particle is used to confirm a commitment. For instance, let’s say you asked a friend to watch a movie with you. Your friend nods his head, and you say |
| Nguyet: Bạn gật đầu là đồng ý rồi nhé! |
| Antoni: "You nodded your head. It means you agree, right?" By the way, don’t confuse the first word in the sentence, which is |
| Nguyet: Không |
| Antoni: In this context, the word means "No," and doesn’t function as a final particle. But that should be expected as it’s not found at the end of the sentence. You might also encounter another common sentence final particle in Vietnamese, which is |
| Nguyet: nhỉ |
| Antoni: This particle is mostly used in exclamatory and interrogative sentences, such as when you say, |
| Nguyet: Trông anh có vẻ mệt nhỉ! |
| Antoni: or "You look tired, aren’t you?" In this case, the final particle is used to show the speaker’s assumption and expectation that the listener would agree. In other cases, this final particle can be used to show sarcasm. For instance, if your friend whom you know that is not that wealthy tells you they’re going to buy an expensive car, you can respond with |
| Nguyet: Ô, anh giàu nhỉ! |
| Antoni: "Oh, you are rich!" Now, there is another final particle that’s used when you want to emphasize that something is to be expected. It’s the final particle, |
| Nguyet: mà |
| Antoni: For example, if your friend had dinner in your house and compliments your mom’s cooking, you can tell her |
| Nguyet: Mẹ tôi là đầu bếp mà. |
| Antoni: "My mother is a chef." In this case, it’s used to express the fact of the matter. The same final particle can be used to scold someone, like when a boss reprimands an employee for always coming in late. |
| Nguyet: Tôi đã nói anh nhiều lần rồi mà! |
| Antoni: "I already told you many times!" |
| [Summary] |
| Antoni: These are not all the sentence-final particles in Vietnamese. We aimed at covering only the most common ones and their most common usages. Don't worry about memorizing them all at once. If you are a beginner or lower intermediate student, then you should focus on knowing and understanding the ones we’ve discussed and everything else will follow. |
| Practice Section |
| Antoni: Let's review the sample conversation: Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud, and then listen carefully as the native speaker models the correct answer. Repeat after her, with the focus on your pronunciation. Are you ready? |
| How do you say, "Do you have a pen?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Nguyet as Nguyet Ngo: Anh có bút không? |
| Antoni: Listen again and repeat. |
| Nguyet as Nguyet Ngo: Anh có bút không? |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Nguyet as Nguyet Ngo: Anh có bút không? |
| Antoni: And do you remember how Ben Lee says "No, sorry?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Nguyet as Ben Lee: Không, xin lỗi nhé. |
| Antoni: Listen again and repeat. |
| Nguyet as Ben Lee: Không, xin lỗi nhé. |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Nguyet as Ben Lee: Không, xin lỗi nhé. |
| Cultural Insight/Expansion (Optional) |
| Antoni: Sentence final particles are unique in the way that they don’t mean anything in themselves, and yet they play a very crucial role in everyday communication. Attach one to the end of a sentence, and you change the meaning of that sentence altogether. For instance, we have the final particle |
| Nguyet: à |
| Antoni: It’s only one letter, but it can transform a "What" question into a yes-no question, such as in this case: |
| Nguyet: Em đang học gì? |
| Antoni: "What are you studying?" Add the final particle in question and you get |
| Nguyet: Em đang học à? |
| Antoni: "Are you studying?" Perhaps the most important function of final particles is that they can change the tone of your speech for a more effective manner of communicating. Take this statement, for example: |
| Nguyet: Anh làm việc này cho tôi. |
| Antoni: "You do this for me." Now, let’s add the final particle in question: |
| Nguyet: Anh làm việc này cho tôi chứ? |
| Antoni: "Could you do this for me?" See how it changes the tone of the sentence and makes it sound a lot friendlier? |
Outro |
| Antoni: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Nguyet: Tạm biệt! |
| Antoni: See you soon! |
| Credits: Nguyet Nguyen (Vinh Phuc, Vietnam), Antoni (English, synthetic voice) |
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