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- "Both the cat and the dog lik…
"Both the cat and the dog like meat."
Translation:Cả mèo và chó đều thích thịt.
11 Comments
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Both means "cả" (cả hai/ Couple of sth).
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and means "và", (you saw this word in Alphabet - 1 lesson) to list two things and above.
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đều indicate not only cat but dog also likes meat.
And finally, all of them are necessary to complete this sentence.
Can you elaborate why both cả and đều are needed? Someone also pointed this out below.
This is an idiomatic sentence/expression (see also the tips and notes about conjonctions) meaning not only... but also....
In Vietnamese, you can express it with both following constructions:
Không những (here is những rather meaning only/exclusively)+first subject+mà còn/cũng+second subject+đều (=optional plural particle)+verb
Không những con mèo mà còn/cũng con chó đều thích thịt. [Not only the cat but also the dog (they both/both of them) like meat.]
and/or
Cả+two subjects(+đều)+verb/adjective with đều (=all/eighter) beeing very often added as an optional plural particle placed between the subject and the verb:
Cả (con) mèo và (con) chó đều thích thịt. [Both the cat and the dog like meat.]
With more than two subjects, with or without classifier depending on how general is your statement, say for example:
Mèo, chim và chó đều thích thịt. [Cats, birds and dogs, all like meat.]
If you just want to point out both of them, use two subjects and cả hai:
Con mèo và con chó, cả hai đều thích thịt. [The cat and the dog, both like meat.] [Both, the cat and the dog, like meat.]
Cả hai đều thích thịt. [They both like meat.]
And of course you can say cả ba(=all threẹ), cả bốn(=all four), etc
Why do you not put "Con" in front if Meo and Cho? if they are the names of animals shouldn't they have "con" in front of them ? D:
I think it's sort of like slang or a short hand. You can be more proper and put "con" in front of them, but I don't believe it's always necessary.
I believe, if you leave off 'con' then it can mean cats and dogs, or the cat and the dog (you have to depend on context to know which) while if you use 'con' then it specifies the 2nd option.
Con mèo và con chó=The cat and the dog (specific subjects)
vs
Mèo và chó=Cats and dogs (general subjects)
To me this reads, Both the cat and the dog both like meat. Cả and đèu are both "both" aren't they? In English you would not use both twice in the sentence. Wouldn't, Cả mèo và chó thích thịt hoặc Con mèo và con chó đều thích thịt, be the correct sentence structure? 2 x both in the one sentence seems odd to me.
