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 và 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.