Vietnamese Grammar: How to Use "Need"

Lesson Transcript

Were you confused when you first studied English, especially when it comes to “need to”, “don't need to”, “have to”, “don't have to”, or even “mustn't”?

I have a lot of students who struggle with that, but today it's going to be about Vietnamese.

And trust me, it's way easier.

Hello everyone, my name is Linh.

And welcome back to vietnamespod101.com, the fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Vietnamese.

And let's get started.

If you want to talk about something that's not very important, we say

cần

or cần phải

cần phải

cần phải is like the full form of the verb.

But if you want to make it short, you can say

cần

Tôi cần đi bây giờ, like “I need to go”, or “I gotta go”.

Tôi cần đi bây giờ.

Ok?

Tôi cần phải học một ngôn ngữ thứ ba.

That means “I need to study a third language”.

Tôi cần phải học một ngôn ngữ thứ ba.

Tôi cần phải uống nhiều nước.

“I need to drink a lot of water.”

Tôi cần phải uống nhiều nước.

And if you want to talk about the opposite form, the negative form, we say

Tôi không cần phải

Tôi không cần phải means “I don't need to".

In sentence

Tôi không cần phải đến trường vào chủ nhật.

That means “I don't need to go to school on Sunday”.

Tôi không cần phải đến trường vào chủ nhật.

Alright, another example of the negative form, it will be

Tôi không cần phải đi siêu thị.

That means “I don't need to go to the supermarket”.

Tôi không cần phải đi siêu thị.

Ok?

So that's the difference between “need to” and “don't need to”.

cần phải và không cần phải

Alright, so only one word, không, for the negative form.

Right, now let's talk about something that you have to do.

Actually, if you speak in English, there will be two different words.

But when it comes to Vietnamese, they are pretty much similar.

Depends on like your tone or depends on the way you say that sentence, ok?

Em cần phải gửi báo cáo cho anh ngay.

That means “You have to send me the report immediately.” ok?

So depends on the situations, we can be flexible.

But when we say cần phải, it means “need” and “have to”.

And it's similar to the negative form of the verb.

So if you want to say like “I don't have to” or “you don't have t”o,

we also use like không cần phải.

không cần phải.

ok?

You might wonder that, so how do I express some things like “I have to do”

or “something is a must, I cannot say no”, like in English, right?

Alright, so in these situations, we can make it a little bit stronger.

For example, bắt buộc phải

bắt buộc phải

That means you have to do that or you must do that.

Người Việt Nam bắt buộc phải đội mũ bảo hiểm khi lái xe.

That means “Vietnamese people must wear a helmet when riding a motorbike”. ok?

Người Việt Nam bắt buộc phải đội mũ bảo hiểm khi lái xe.

So this is like a rule, you cannot say no or you don't have a choice.

Another example would be

Học sinh bắt buộc phải mặc đồng phục khi đến trường.

That means “Students must wear uniforms when coming to school” or “when going to school”.

Học sinh bắt buộc phải mặc đồng phục khi đến trường.

Tôi không bắt buộc phải làm việc vào cuối tuần.

Tôi means “I", ok?

Tôi không bắt buộc phải làm việc vào cuối tuần.

That means “I don't have to work on weekends”.

Tôi không bắt buộc phải làm việc vào cuối tuần.

Alright, now let's talk about something less important, but it's more like advice.

So in Vietnamese we say

nên

And không nên

không nên

nên means “should” and không nên means “shouldn't”.

So in sentence if you want to say

Bạn nên bỏ thuốc lá.

That means “You should stop smoking.”

Or “You should quit smoking.”

Bạn nên bỏ thuốc lá càng sớm càng tốt.

Means “as soon as possible”

Bạn nên bỏ thuốc lá càng sớm càng tốt.

“You should stop smoking as soon as possible.”

Bạn nên bỏ thuốc lá càng sớm càng tốt.

Alright, and if you want to say like “you shouldn't do something”

In Vietnamese we say

Bạn không nên

For example:

Bạn không nên thức khuya.

Bạn không nên thức khuya means “You shouldn't stay up late.”

Bạn không nên thức khuya.

Alright, so now let's wrap up

Cần

And không cần

Cần phải

It can be “need to”- “don't need to”

or “have to”- “don't have to”. Ok?

And then the next one is gonna be stronger

If you want to talk about rules and no rules

We say

Bắt buộc phải

And

Không bắt buộc phải, ok?

That means like “have to” and “don't have to” or “must”

And the last one if you want to talk about advice

If you want to give advice

We say

Nên

Và

không nên

Alright, so I hope that is clear

And I hope you're not confused anymore

Let me know if you have any questions at the comment below

And let me know the topic you want to hear in the next videos

Thank you so much again for watching

Don't forget to like this video, subscribe the channel

And visit the website VietnameseSpot101.com to learn more Vietnamese

Thank you very much and see you in the next one

Xin chào và hẹn gặp lại!

Comments

Hide