QCAA Vietnamese (SEE) cheat sheet

Sixth tone (ngã) is a rising tone with a glottal break; it is often confused with the falling-rising hỏi tone in rapid speech.

Vietnamese uses a classifier before nouns: con for animals, cái for inanimate objects, chiếc for vehicles, quyển for books.

Negation: không (not), chưa (not yet), chẳng (emphatic not). Place before the verb or adjective.

Question particles: à (yes/no), không (yes/no), chứ (tag), phải không (confirmation). They occur at the end of the clause.

Time expressions often come at the beginning or end of a sentence: hôm qua (yesterday), ngày mai (tomorrow), tuần sau (next week).

Numbers: mười (10), hai mươi (20), một trăm (100), một nghìn (1000). Note the irregular: mốt for 21 (hai mươi mốt), lăm for 15 (mười lăm).

Listen for discourse markers: đầu tiên (first), sau đó (then), cuối cùng (finally), vì vậy (therefore). These signal the structure of a talk.

In a dialogue, note pronouns: tôi (I), bạn (you, informal), anh/chị (you, formal), ông/bà (you, elderly). Pronoun choice reflects social relationship.

Vietnamese is written with the Latin alphabet (chữ Quốc ngữ) using diacritics for tones and vowels: a, ă, â, e, ê, i, o, ô, ơ, u, ư, y.

Word order is Subject-Verb-Object (SVO), but adjectives follow the noun: nhà đẹp (beautiful house), not đẹp nhà.

The word 'của' indicates possession and follows the noun: sách của tôi (my book). It can be omitted in informal contexts.

Aspect markers: đã (past), đang (progressive), sẽ (future). They precede the verb.

Plural is often unmarked; context or numerals indicate plurality. Words like những, các, mấy can mark plural.

Comparative: hơn (more), kém (less), bằng (equal). Superlative: nhất (most). Example: đẹp hơn (more beautiful), đẹp nhất (most beautiful).

Passive voice is formed with bị (negative) or được (positive) plus the verb: bị phạt (be fined), được khen (be praised).

Conjunctions: và (and), nhưng (but), hoặc (or), vì (because), nếu (if), mặc dù (although).

Formal letters begin with Kính gửi (Dear) followed by the recipient's title and name; end with Trân trọng (Sincerely).

Informal letters may start with Chào (Hello) or a name, and end with Thân (Best) or a signature.

Paragraph structure: topic sentence (câu chủ đề), supporting sentences (câu triển khai), concluding sentence (câu kết).

Use time sequencers: trước hết (first), tiếp theo (next), sau đó (then), cuối cùng (finally) to organise ideas.

When giving an opinion, use phrases: theo tôi (in my opinion), tôi nghĩ rằng (I think that), tôi đồng ý (I agree), tôi không đồng ý (I disagree).

Punctuation: comma (phẩy), period (chấm), colon (hai chấm), semicolon (chấm phẩy), question mark (chấm hỏi), exclamation mark (chấm than).

Avoid starting sentences with và (and) or nhưng (but) in formal writing; use them sparingly in informal writing.

Word count: aim for 120–150 words for a short essay; 80–100 words for a letter. Plan before writing.

Tones are crucial: ma (ghost), má (mother), mà (but), mả (tomb), mã (horse), mạ (rice seedling). Practise all six tones.

Final consonants are often unreleased or reduced in southern speech: -c, -ch, -t, -p are stop sounds.

Use appropriate pronouns: when speaking to a teacher, use em (I) and thầy/cô (you); to a peer, use tôi/bạn or tao/mày (informal).

Fillers: ờ, à, ừm are common but should be avoided in formal presentations.

For presentations, use signposting: như các bạn đã biết (as you know), tôi xin trình bày (I will present), để kết luận (to conclude).

Pronunciation of 'tr' and 'ch': tr is retroflex (tongue curled), ch is palatal (tongue flat). Similarly 's' and 'x'.

Stress is not lexical in Vietnamese; instead, focus on clear tone production and rhythm.

In conversations, use backchannels: vâng (yes), dạ (yes, polite), thế à (really?), để show you are listening.