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[ARCHIVE] Vietnamese conjunctions

User avatar
Fnirk1
Sweden

[ARCHIVE] Vietnamese conjunctions

Post by Fnirk1 »

Originally posted by: Huy_Ngo on Duolingo Archived here


Xin chào các bạn! Hello everyone!

This document on Vietnamese conjunctions was requested by @gibbothebee. As there are too many conjunctions, here I only discuss the common ones.

Although in Vietnamese, there is not a category named "conjunction", but "relation word", which includes both conjunction and preposition, instead, we can just talk about words that are conjunction in English.

Let's start with the most used conjunction: "and" and "but" – “và” and “nhưng”, respectively.
E.g. Tôi thích đọc sách xem phim. –I like reading book and watching film.
Phương pháp này đơn giản nhưng hiệu quả. – This method is simple but efficient.
Note: Unlike English "but", which can be used for noun, “nhưng” can only be used for adjective, verb, and clause.

In Vietnamese, there are two different word for ”or“: “hay” and “hoặc”. “Hay” is used for or-question, while hoặc is used for statement. Note that "either... or..." in Vietnamese is a single “hoặc” at the "or" place.
E.g. Baạn nên chọn màu đỏ hoặc màu vàng. - You should choose (either) red or yellow.
Bạn đang chơi hay đang làm việc? – Are you playing or working?
Sometimes, you can use “hoặc... hoặc...” to emphasize, usually to offer two choices:
Hoặc bạn đúng hoặc tôi đúng. - Either you (are right) or I am right.

Speaking of "Either... or...", I'd like to speak of "Neither... nor...". In Vietnamese, it is “Không… cũng không...” (Not... also not...). It is a paired conjunction, so I will write about it in the next one.

There are also paired conjunctions, which I will talk about in the next one.

StewartM
United States of America

Re: [ARCHIVE] Vietnamese conjunctions

Post by StewartM »

How about mà, vậy mà, and nhưng for "but" in English? Are these interchangeable, or are they for specific uses? I have never seen any explanation about these.

User avatar
SheTuti
Switzerland

Re: [ARCHIVE] Vietnamese conjunctions

Post by SheTuti »

Nhưng, mà, nhưng mà and vầy mà

“Nhưng” simply means “but”, “mà” is slightly different: it means “that” or “which” or “who” or “whom” ( just like que, qui or quoi in French):

– Người (mà) tôi yêu. The one (that/whom) I love.
– Thứ (mà) tôi thích nhất . The thing (that/which) I like the most.

“Mà” at the end of a sentence simply emphasizes the action. In example:

– Thôi đi ! Just stop it!

And sometimes, it has the same meaning as “nhưng" (rather in written context), respectively "nhưng mà" (rather in spoken context):

– Tuy đã cố gắng hết sức nhưng/mà/nhưng mà vẫn không được. The best attempt has been tried, but it didn’t work.

To resume:

[*]Nhưng: Neutral. The only contrast between two sentences:

– I want to go to school nhưng it rains.

[*]Nhưng mà: Emphasize. The only strong contrast between two sentences.

– I want to go to school nhưng mà it rains! => I really want to go to school but unfortunately it rains!

And finally, about "vầy mà" meaning in Glosbe: however, and yet, which, thus... I think they all are very similar and can be used interchangeably in most cases.

Last edited by SheTuti on Wed Mar 30, 2022 2:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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User avatar
SheTuti
Switzerland

Re: [ARCHIVE] Vietnamese conjunctions

Post by SheTuti »

Hoặc vs hay

They have the same meaning, but you can only use one of them per sentence, depending on what you want to say:

Hay is more like making you choose between A and B, but both of them could be right.

Hoặc means you could only choose one, which means if A is right, then B is wrong.

Also you can just add a question mark at the end of the hay phrase and the latter becomes a question. You can't ask a question with hoặc.

For example:

– Anh chọn tôi HAY cô ấy ? Would you choose me or her? (Interrogative)

– Anh (nên) chọn tôi HOẶC (là) cô ấy! It’s me OR/EITHER her! (Imperative)

To resume:

Hay is inclusive (this OR that BUT NOT both), hoặc is exclusive (this OR that OR both).

The line is quite fine though. Some would argue that hay is used for questions, while hoặc for statements.

Etymologically, hoặc is from 或,the ancient Chinese word for or or the abbreviated form of 或者,in modern Chinese. Hay is the native Vietnamese word.

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