Present tense
Vietnamese verbs never change. No person, no number, no tense: ăn is "eat, eats, eating, ate, will eat" for everybody. There is nothing to conjugate, so this chapter is about the few small words that do a tense's job — and about which verb "to be" you need, because there are three.
| English | Vietnamese | |
|---|---|---|
| I eat | I eat | Tôi ăn |
| she eats | she eats | Chị ấy ăn |
| we eat | we eat | Chúng tôi ăn |
That is the whole paradigm.
Aspect markers: the optional tense kit
When timing matters, a marker goes in front of the verb:
| marker | meaning | example |
|---|---|---|
| đang | in the middle of (progressive) | Tôi đang ăn. — "I'm eating (right now)." |
| đã | done, past | Tôi đã ăn. — "I ate / have eaten." |
| sẽ | will | Tôi sẽ ăn. — "I will eat." |
| sắp | about to | Xe sắp đến. — "The bus is about to arrive." |
| vẫn | still | Tôi vẫn đói. — "I'm still hungry." |
| vừa / mới | just | Tôi vừa ăn. — "I've just eaten." |
| rồi (at the end) | already, done | Tôi ăn rồi. — "I've eaten." |
All optional. Tôi ăn cơm with no marker is a complete "I eat / am eating rice"; context decides. In speech đã is often dropped and rồi at the end does the work alone.
"To be": three words, and often none
Là is the copula for noun = noun:
Tôi là sinh viên. — "I am a student." Đây là Hà Nội. — "This is Hanoi."
Before an adjective there is no verb at all — Vietnamese adjectives are stative verbs:
Tôi mệt. — "I'm tired." Trời nóng. — "It's hot." Cái này đắt quá. — "This is too expensive."
Tôi là mệt is the classic learner error, as dia adalah sedap is in Malay.
For location, the verb is ở "to be at, to live":
Tôi ở Hà Nội. — "I'm in / I live in Hanoi." Nhà vệ sinh ở đâu? — "Where is the toilet?"
And for existence and possession, có "to have":
Có vấn đề. — "There's a problem." Tôi có hai con. — "I have two children." Ở đây có wifi không? — "Is there wifi here?"
"Can": three words for that too
| word | position | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| biết | before the verb | know how to — a skill: tôi biết bơi, I can swim |
| được | after the verb | manage to, be allowed to — a possibility: tôi đi được, I can go |
| có thể | before the verb | can, may — general and formal: tôi có thể giúp, I can help |
Được after a verb is also the passive of good fortune (được khen, "got praised") and the "OK" of agreement — a word to watch.
Serial verbs
Verbs chain without any linking word, in the order things happen:
Tôi đi mua cà phê. — "I go (and) buy coffee." Anh ấy chạy ra ngoài. — "He ran out(side)." Em muốn đi học. — "I want to go to school."
If you speak Korean
Korean conjugates for tense and for politeness; Vietnamese does neither. Đang is -고 있다, đã is -았/었, sẽ is -ㄹ 거예요 — but each is an optional word in front of an unchanging verb, and there is no polite verb form at all: politeness went into the pronouns (see Pronouns). Là is 이다 and, like 이다, is only for nouns; adjectives are verbs on both sides (예쁘다 = đẹp), so tôi mệt with no copula will feel natural. Ở is 에 있다 in one word.
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