Linguakhông stands in front of the verb
To turn any sentence into a negative one, put không immediately in front of the verb. Nothing else moves, and the verb keeps its single shape.
| Affirmative | Negative | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Tôi uống cà phê. | Tôi không uống cà phê. | I do not drink coffee. |
| Anh ấy đi làm. | Anh ấy không đi làm. | He does not go to work. |
| Em học tiếng Việt. | Em không học tiếng Việt. | I do not study Vietnamese. |
không also says no to a description
Words such as khỏe, mệt and bận behave like verbs in Vietnamese: they need no linking word, and không goes in the very same slot.
Anh ấy không bận.He is not busy.
chưa says not yet
chưa takes the same slot as không, but it means not yet: so far it has not happened, and it is still expected. không is a flat fact; chưa leaves the door open.
Em chưa ăn cơm.I have not eaten yet.
Not once so far: chưa bao giờ
bao giờ on its own means ever and belongs to questions. Put it straight after chưa and you get chưa bao giờ – not once so far. The whole thing keeps the slot in front of the verb. That slot is a busy one: thường (usually) lives there too, and the next lesson is about the words that share it.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| không | not | Anh ấy không mệt. He is not tired. |
| chưa | not yet | Anh ấy chưa đi ngủ. He has not gone to bed yet. |
| bao giờ | ever | Chị ấy chưa bao giờ uống cà phê. She has never drunk coffee. |
| thường | usually | Bố tôi thường ăn cơm ở nhà. My father usually eats at home. |
| biết | to know | Tôi không biết chị ấy. I do not know her. |
| hiểu | to understand | Anh ấy không hiểu tiếng Việt. He does not understand Vietnamese. |
| thích | to like | Chị ấy không thích cà phê. She does not like coffee. |
| bận | busy | Mẹ tôi bận. My mother is busy. |
| muốn | to want | Em không muốn ngủ. I do not want to sleep. |
| đi ngủ | to go to bed | Con gái tôi đi ngủ. My daughter goes to bed. |
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 puts không in the right place?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.