How to form questions in Vietnamese

In Vietnamese, questions do not follow a single formula compared to English. The easiest way to spot questions and be able to form them is to get used to questions words and phrases, and how to transfer from a sentence to a question. Questions words and phrases vary depending on what kind of answers you are looking for.

How to form questions in Vietnamese

In Vietnamese grammar, interrogative sentences (questions) do not have a certain formula.

• In daily conversations, you can spot question words, phrases and indeed through the address at the end of the questions.

• In writing forms, you can simply spot the question mark at the end.

Normal questions

To form a question requires lots of practice, but it can be easy to follow this formula and later on when you advance more in Vietnamese you can find other formulas too:

Question words (+ S) + V + O? (S+) V + O + question words?

If you are talking with friends, peers, and closed same-age ones, subjects in the questions can be left out. Avoid that when you do not know that person well, when you are younger than them and when you need to be polite.

​Ai	Equivalent to who in English ​Referring to a person Can stand alone, or in the beginning or at the end of the question Example: Bạn là ai? (Who are you?) Ai là Hưng? (Who is Hung?) Ai? (Who?)
Gì	Equivalent to what, which in English ​Referring to an object, a thing, a fruit, an animal, am occupation Can stand alone, or in the beginning or at the end of the question Example: Chuyện gì?/Gì? (What?) Bạn muốn làm gì? (What do you want?/What do you want to become?) Anh Hưng làm nghề gì? (What does Hung do?) Ngày mai ăn gì? (Which food will we eat tomorrow?)
Thế nào Như thế nào Làm sao Sao	Equivalent to how in English ​Referring to ways of doing things Can stand alone, or in the beginning or at the end of the question Sao meaning how should be used at the end of the question or alone, as in the later stage you will learn that it placed in the beginning means why. Example: Thế nào là sai?/Như thế nào là sai?/Sai là như thế nào? (How is it wrong?) Bạn làm thế nào?/Bạn làm như thế nào? (How do you do it?) Cái này phải làm sao? (How to do it?) Ngày mai ra sao? (How is tomorrow like?)
Tại sao Vì sao Sao	Equivalent to why in English ​Referring to reasons Tại sao and vì sao can stand alone or in the beginning Sao should not stand alone or at the end, as it may refer to how Sao + the rest of the question Example: Tại sao?/Vì sao? (Why?) Sao anh không còn thương em? (Why do you no longer love me?) Sao bạn làm điều này? (Why did you do this?)
Khi nào Lúc nào	Equivalent to when in English ​Referring to time Can stand alone, or in the beginning or at the end of the question Example: Khi nào chúng ta bắt đầu? (When will we start?) Chúng ta ăn khi nào? (When did we eat?) Lúc nào thì nên đi ngủ? (When should we go to sleep?) Đi chơi lúc nào? (When should we hang out?)

Yes/No questions

These are lot easier to spot as there have không, đúng không, phải không, chưa at the end.

(+ S) + V + O + đúng không (or other yes/no question words)?

Example:

Anh ăn cơm chưa? (Have you eaten yet?)

Tôi làm vậy đúng chưa? (Did I do it correctly?)

Ngày mai anh Hưng được thăng chức đúng không? (Will Hung get promoted tomorrow?) Mẹ ngủ ngon không? (Mom, did you sleep well?)

If you are talking with friends, peers, and closed same-age ones, subjects in the questions can be left out. Avoid that when you do not know that person well, when you are younger than them and when you need to be polite.

These questions are used to confirm pieces of information and they could be right/wrong or yes/no, therefore to answer them, you should be able to understand the questions and answer accordingly.

The safe way to do it is to transfer the question to the equivalent sentence (and in several cases with extra words to validate the information). When the information is not correct, you should use negative sentences to clarify the information by simply placing the negative words không, không phải, chưa, chưa phải in the answer.

Example:

Q: Anh ăn cơm chưa? (Have you eaten yet?)

A: Anh ăn cơm rồi (I ate already)

Q: Tôi làm vậy đúng chưa? (Did I do it correctly?)

A: Anh làm vậy đúng rồi (You did it correctly)

Q: Ngày mai anh Hưng được thăng chức đúng không? (Will Hung get promoted tomorrow?)

A: Đúng vậy (Yes/correct/true)

Q: Mẹ ngủ ngon không? (Mom, did you sleep well?) A: Mẹ không ngủ ngon (I did not sleep well)

#questions #yesnoquestions #vietnamesegrammarforbeginners