Vietnamese Grammar

20+ VIETNAMESE CONJUNCTIONS WHICH ARE FREQUENTLY USED IN DAILY CONVERSATION

Posted on by Learning Vietnamese
13
Sep

Vietnamese conjunctions are used in daily conversations, especially when you are communicating with Vietnamese people. If you do not know how to use them appropriately, you will most likely have difficulties during your time living in Vietnam.

Jellyfish has compiled all the knowledge about more than 20 common conjunctions in the article below that you can apply today to help you understand and use Vietnamese conjunctions.

I. Types of Vietnamese conjunctions

Conjunctions are words used to connect words with the same function in a clause, or to join clauses of the same type, sometimes to connect main clauses and subordinate clauses. Conjunctions in Vietnamese are divided into two types.

Coordinating Conjunctions: are often used by Vietnamese to connect words or clauses with the same grammatical function in a sentence.

  • In a sentence, coordinating conjunctions are usually placed between words or clauses that are linked together. 

Example:

  • Tôi không tin anh ấy, vì anh ấy đã từng nói dối tôi trong quá khứ (I don’t trust him, for he used to lie to me in the past).
  • Mặt trời mọc và những chú chim bắt đầu hót (The sun rises and the birds begin to sing).

Subordinating Conjunctions: are used to connect subordinate clauses and main clauses in a sentence. Subordinating conjunction is placed at the beginning of the subordinating clause, the other being the main clause.

  • Subordinating conjunctions create a relationship between two clauses in a sentence. It can be a cause-effect relationship, a conditional relationship or an opposite relationship, etc.
  • In a sentence, a clause containing a subordinating conjunction can be before or after the main clause.

Example:

  • Khi tôi về nhà, em gái tôi đang đọc sách (When I got home, my sister was reading book).

See more: Exploring Vietnamese Wildlife: Did You Know These 40+ Animals?

II. 20+ Vietnamese conjunctions in everyday conversation

While talking to each other, Vietnamese people use a lot of different conjunctions to make the conversation richer and more lively.

Based on the meaning as well as the context of the sentence so that you can use the most appropriate and accurate conjunctions. 

Vietnamese conjunction

2.1. Coordinating conjunctions

You can refer to the table of some commonly used coordinating conjunctions below:

Coordinating conjunctions Example
Và (And): is used as a function word to indicate a connection or additional.
  • Tôi có một chú chó và tôi rất yêu nó (I have a dog and I love him)
  • Chị ấy có 3 con chó và 2 con mèo (She has 3 dogs and 2 cats)
Hoặc, Hay (Or): used to express two or more options.
  • Em muốn nấu ăn ở nhà hay ăn ngoài nhà hàng? (Do you want to cook at home or eat out at a restaurant?)
  • Em chỉ có thể chọn áo phông hoặc áo sơ mi (You can only choose a T-shirt or a shirt)
Nhưng (But, Yet): used to connect 2 or more ideas but the ideas have different meanings.
  • Tôi muốn mua ô tô mới nhưng tôi chưa có đủ tiền (I want to buy a new car but I don’t have enough money)
  • Mina thích Toán nhưng cô ấy lại giỏi Tiếng Anh (Mina likes Math yet she is good at English).
Cũng không (Nor): is used to add a negative idea to the previously stated negative.
  • Chiếc bánh này không ngon cũng không đẹp mắt (This cake is neither delicious nor pretty)

See more: Vietnamese Phrases: Must-Know Expressions for Learners

2.2. Subordinating conjunctions

You can refer to some of subordinating conjunctions which are regularly used in Vietnamese daily communication in the table below:

Subordinating Conjunctions Usage Example
Subordinating conjunctions of time Trong khi (When, While, As): used to describe two things happening at the same time
  • Điện thoại anh ấy kêu trong khi anh ấy đang ăn cơm (His phone rang while he was eating dinner).
  • Khi anh ấy đang chơi game, mẹ anh ấy bước vào phòng (When he was playing a game, his mother entered the room).
Khi, Mỗi khi (Whenever, When): used to express an event that happened at a certain time
  • Khi John 5 tuổi, gia đình anh ấy chuyển về Việt Nam (When John was 5, his family moved to Vietnam).
  • Tôi luôn đi làm từ thiện mỗi khi có thời gian rảnh (I always go to charity whenever I have free time).
Subordinating conjunctions of time Trước khi/ Sau khi (Before / After): used to express that one thing happened before or after the other 
  • Trước khi tôi đến nơi, anh ấy đã rời đi (Before I got there, he had already left).
  • Sau khi được nghỉ hè, tôi đã đi du lịch với gia đình (After the summer break, I went on a trip with my family).
Kể từ khi (Since): used to describe things that started happening from a certain point in time.
  • Kể từ khi anh ấy đi làm, anh ấy đã làm việc tại 3 công ty (Since he started working, he has worked at 3 companies).
Cho đến khi (Until): used to express what is happening until something else happens, then stop.
  • Họ ngồi trên bãi biển cho đến khi mặt trời lặn (They sat on the beach until the sun went down)
Subordinating conjunctions of place Ở nơi, Bất cứ nơi nào (Wherever, Wherever): used to describe something happening at a certain place
  • Bất cứ nơi nào bạn đi, gia đình đều dõi theo bạn (Wherever you go, family follows you).
  • Hãy đứng ở nơi mà anh ấy dễ tìm thấy bạn (Please stand where he can easily find you).
Subordinating conjunctions of cause and reason Bởi vì (Because /Seeing that)
  • Tôi không thích cô ấy bởi bởi vì cô ấy rất xấu tính và kiêu ngạo (I don’t like her because she is mean and arrogant)
  • Chúng ta nên đi thăm Anna bởi vì cô ấy vừa xuất viện hôm qua (We should go visit Anna, seeing that she just got out of the hospital yesterday)
Vì (Since/ As)
  • Vì chuyến tàu bị hoãn hơn 1 tiếng nên tôi đã bị muộn buổi họp mặt (Since/ As the train was delayed for more than 1 hour, I was late for the meeting).
Subordinating conjunctions of purpose Để mà (So that/ In order that): used to express the purpose of an event
  • Anh ấy phải ở lại văn phòng để mà hoàn thành báo cáo công việc (He has to stay in the office so that/ in order that he could finish the work report).
Subordinating conjunctions of opposites  Mặc dù/ Tuy là (Although, Though, Even though)
  • Mặc dù món ăn rất đắt nhưng nó không hề ngon (Although/ Though the food is very expensive, it is not delicious).
  • Tuy là anh ấy học rất giỏi nhưng anh ấy vẫn không được giải nhất (Even though he studied very well, he still didn’t get the first prize).

In the preceding article, Jellyfish collected all of knowledge about Vietnamese conjunctions. It will be easier to communicate with native speakers if you can use them proficiently. Please take out a pen and paper to take notes of these main points so you can review them later.

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