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Vietnamese, unlike many world languages, has a relatively simple verb structure. Verbs do not have any declension, which means that, in Vietnamese, for the verb "to be", I am", "you are", "he is" would all use the same verb form (là). Vietnamese uses particles to denote tenses (past, continuous, future, past perfect, etc.), but these particles are used when context does not allow the tense to be fully understood.



I. Basics
II. The Verb "To Be"
III. Present Tense
IV. Past Tense
V. Past Perfect Tense
VI. Reflexive Verbs
VII. Continuous Present Tense
VIII. Imperative Form
IX. Future Tense
X. Immediate Future Tense
XI. Verb Serialization

Like many languages, the Vietnamese language has a verb meaning "to be" (la). However, its usage is different than how it is used in English.

The Vietnamese language is a zero copula language, which means that, whenever the form A = B is used in a sentence, the verb "to be" is not needed.

Take, for example:

English: The flower is yellow.
Vietnamese: Bong vang (Literally: Flower yellow.)

English: The house is small.
Vietnamese: Nha nho. (Literally: House small.)

In addition, the verb "to be" is not used to denote feeling or states of expression:

English: I am happy.
Vietnamese: Toi vui. (Literally: I happy.)

English: He is sad.
Vietnamese: No buon. (Literally: He sad.)

*Note: The personal pronouns that I used here are extremely informal and considered rude in usage, but they help convey an accurate meaning.

So, when can the verb "la" be used?

It can be used to denote location or time.

English: The cat is near the table.
Vietnamese: Con meo la gan ban. (Literally: [Classifier] cat is near table.)

English: It's one thirty (1:30).
Vietnamese: La mot gio ruoi. (Literally: Is one hour half.)

There are many ways to create the past tense in Vietnamese. For one thing, a verb does not need to be changed if a time word is used.

For example:

English: Yesterday I ate bread.
Vietnamese: Ngay hom qua toi an banh mi. (Literally: Yesterday I eat bread.)
(Yesterday = ngay hom qua; bread = banh mi).

By using context clues, the listener/reader can assume that this event occurred in the past.

One can also create the past tense by using the word "roi", which roughly translates to "already".

For example:

English: I already ate.
Vietnamese: Toi an roi. (Literally: I eat already.)

English: I already slept.
Vietnamese: Toi ngu roi. (Literally: I sleep already.)

Another way to create past tense is to add the particle "da" before a verb form.

English: I ate.
Vietnamese: Toi da an.

English: I drank water.
Vietnamese: Toi da uong nuoc.

Note: Adding a past tense particle to a verb when the time is already addressed in a conversation would not be incorrect, but highly strange to a native speaker's ears.

i have a question how do you say computer in vietnamese

Computer: máy vi tính.