Linguacó: the verb for having
có is the verb to have. The order is simple: who – có – what. The verb never changes: tôi có, bạn có, Nam có. There is nothing to conjugate and no article to choose.
Tôi có hai con.I have two children.
không goes in front
To make any verb negative, put không immediately before it. So có becomes không có. The order never flips: tôi có không is not a Vietnamese sentence. On its own, không is also the word no.
Tôi không có anh trai.I do not have an older brother.
| Sentence | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Tôi có em gái. | I have a younger sister. |
| Tôi không có em gái. | I do not have a younger sister. |
| Nam có hai con. | Nam has two children. |
| Nam không có con. | Nam has no children. |
con and cháu
con is a child of its parents, and it is also how Vietnamese counts children: hai con is two children. cháu covers the next step down – a grandchild, and also a niece or a nephew. Both words double as address words: parents say con to their child, and you say cháu to a child young enough to be your grandchild.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| có | to have | Nam có một em gái. Nam has a younger sister. |
| không | no, not | Không, tôi không có em gái. No, I do not have a younger sister. |
| không có | to not have | Tôi không có vợ. I do not have a wife. |
| con | child (of a parent) | Nam có hai con. Nam has two children. |
| cháu | grandchild, niece or nephew | Bà nội tôi có hai cháu. My father's mother has two grandchildren. |
| con trai | son | Chị gái tôi có một con trai. My older sister has one son. |
| con gái | daughter | Anh trai tôi có một con gái. My older brother has one daughter. |
| vợ | wife | Nam có vợ. Nam has a wife. |
| chồng | husband | Chị gái tôi không có chồng. My older sister does not have a husband. |
| hai | two | Tôi có hai em gái. I have two younger sisters. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- match the pairs: 1
- fill the gap: 2
- build the sentence: 1
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Which sentence says that the speaker has no younger brother?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.