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- Topic: Vietnamese >
- "Tôi giấu con gà."
43 Comments
I almost did that. XD But then I thought it would have been "Tôi là con gà giàu."
I HIDE THE CHICKEN. I SINCERELY DON'T KNOW WHY BUT I HIDE THE CHICKEN.
Yes, people who speak with a Southern accent would pronounce this sentence differently.
"chicken" (con gà) is a countable noun in English so it can't just stand alone that way.
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I think it can be used as uncountable, as in "I want chicken for dinner." But maybe that sense of chicken is not con gà.
"Hid" should also be right. It's past tense and is more grammatically correct in the English translation
We Vietnamese often left out the word 'đã', which indicates the past tense, in casual conversations. However, I believe the fixed answer in present tense is there for learners who haven't been yet introduced to the past tense.
I agree on the English grammar part though. :D
What is different between a thing that is countable and a thing that is uncountable? Do you use "con" or "cai" for one -- or Mot?
[Edited]
"Con" and "cái" are just classifiers for most nouns. They don't mean "one/a/an". Use "một" instead when you want to say "one/a/an". For examples:
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A/ONE cat = MỘT con mèo;
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AN/ONE owl = MỘT con cú.
In Vietnamese, a noun, whether countable or uncountable, never changes its form at all. If you want to count something, you put a number or a quantity in front of the noun. For examples:
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chicken = con gà -> chickenS = NHỮNG/CÁC con gà;
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A/ONE chicken = MỘT con gà;
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TWO chickenS = HAI con gà;
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salt = muối;
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A grain of salt = MỘT hạt/hột muối;
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THREE tonnes of salt = BA tấn muối.
"Con" dùng để chỉ con vật (animal) "cái" dùng để chỉ đồ vật (ex: chair, table, pen, mug....)
[Edit]
When 'g' is followed by 'i' to make 'gi', you pronounce 'gi' as /z/ [Northern dialects]. Otherwise, 'g' is pronounced as /g/. 'g' is never pronounced as /s/, ever. For examples:
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/z/: GIấy (paper), GIẻ (rag), GIò (leg), GIun (worm), etc.;
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/g/: Gà (chicken), Găng (glove), Gấu (bear), GHen (jealous), GHế (chair), Góc (angle), Gốc (base), Gợi (to recall), Gục (to faint), Gừng (ginger), etc.
'gi' is pronounced as /j/ in the South though.
Sorry, I forgot to mention the difference between Northern and Southern dialects. See the edit.
There is typo in vietnamese sentence. It should be giàu instead of giấu.
If "a" is "mot" then it should be "the chicken", not "a chicken", the answer is wrong!
Why cant i put "i hide chicken"? It has the same meaning just not grammatically correct
