Running head: QUESTIONS
CONTRASTIVE ANANLYSIS OF QUESTION
IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE
Nguyễn Thị Thu Thủy
University of Pedagogy
English Department
4B07
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS
Mr Nguyễn Ngọc Vũ
December 30, 2010
Nguyễn Thị Thu Thủy
CA of Question in English and Vietnamese
In language teaching and learning questions play a very important role because it’s highly
used to ask for information or to begin a conversation. It’s not simple as we thought,
however, it’s more complicated and makes learners a lot of troubles when using. That’s
because of the differences between the two languages, and the influences of learners’
mother tongue. Thus, I do this research in order to find out the similarities and differences
between the two languages so that learners can understand more and use it successfully.
Question is a sentence, phrase or word that asks for information (Oxford Dictionary).
There are many ways to classify question according to its aspects, and each linguist has
their own method. However, based on the purpose of using question, there are two kinds:
Question to ask and Question for other communicative purposes.
Question to ask is the one that needs particular answers, or finds information. While
another is used for other communicative purposes, and it’s very diverse; for example,
asking as greeting.
In this paper, I only focus on Question to ask in terms of semantics. Various opinions on
classification of question in English have been raised in different English Grammar books.
According to some recently contrastive analysis of question in English and Vietnamese
in terms of semantics, there are two general kinds: Alternative question and Wh-question.
(Thiêm, 2004, page 228)
Alternative question, which people have chance to choose between two or more available
options, includes:
-
Yes/No question
Do you like coffee?  Yes, I do./ No, I don’t.
-
Alternative question
Does he come from America or France?
 He comes from America./ He comes from France.
-
Tag-question
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Nguyễn Thị Thu Thủy
CA of Question in English and Vietnamese
You will go on holiday next weekend, won’t you?  Yes, I will./ No, I won’t.
They didn’t pass the exam, did they?  No, they didn’t./ Yes, they did.
-
Declarative question
You buy it?

Yes/ No
He wants to marry you?
 Yes/No
Wh-question, which requires more specific information, begins with Wh-word such as
who, whom, which, what…
Who do you love?
Why didn’t she come?
Based on the result of analyzing meaning and structure of question, Vietnamese linguists
classify Vietnamese question into two kinds: Câu hỏi lựa chọn (Alternative question), Câu
hỏi không lựa chọn or Câu hỏi có từ nghi vấn (Question with interrogative words like Ai,
ở đâu, khi nào…)
Similar to English question that alternative question in Vietnamese provides options,
includes three smaller parts:
- Hay/hay là, là…hay là
Ngày mai, cậu hay tớ trực nhật?
Máy tính của cậu là hàng Trung Quốc hay là hàng Nhật?
- Có…không, phải không, đã…chưa
Hôm qua, Mai có đi học không?
Anh ăn hết bánh của em rồi phải không?
Con đã làm bài tập về nhà chưa?
- À, ư, nhỉ, nhé
Mai cậu không đi làm à?
Mẹ cho con đi chơi nhé?
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Nguyễn Thị Thu Thủy
CA of Question in English and Vietnamese
Question with interrogative words uses word or phrase to ask for information which are
varied; for example, ai (who), gì/ cái gì (what), cái nào (which), đâu/ ở đâu (where), khi
nào/ lúc nào/ bao giờ/ chừng nào…(when), sao/ tại sao/vì lý do gì (why/ for what reason)…
Ai chở cậu về thế?
Kì nghỉ hè của cậu như thế nào?
Bao giờ chị ấy về nước?
In brief, we have this comparison table:
Language
Vietnamese
English
Alternative question
Question
Yes/No question
Question
Alternative
with
(also includes Tag
kinds
question
interrogative
question and
words
Declarative
Alternative
Wh-question
question
question)
According to previous studies and classifications about question, we have seen great
similarities between English and Vietnamese question in terms of semantics, which are
equivalent in translation, but also some differences.
In terms of communicative purposes, they are the same, which is asking for information.
However, in structure terms they are completely different. It’s clear in word order. In
English questions, we usually put an auxiliary verb, a modal verb or the verb “to be” before
a subject, or combine with Wh-word to form a question, and intonation is always used.
Whereas, Vietnamese question word order is simpler like narrative sentences: “subject
+predicate”, and there is no reversion. In order to understand more, we will go into details
by contrasting each kind of question.
The first kind is Alternative question which is divided into many smaller parts. Briefly, in
both languages, this kind requires answers with a “yes” or “no”. However, if the input is
unreasonable,
the
answer
is
completely
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rejected;
for
example,
Nguyễn Thị Thu Thủy
CA of Question in English and Vietnamese
English:
Vietnamese:
A: Is Shara a dentist?
A: Shara là một nha sĩ phải không?
B: I don’t know who she is.
B: Tôi còn không biết Shara là ai nữa.
Now, we will analyze each part to find the similarities and differences.
Firstly, Yes/No question and its equivalence in Vietnamese such as có … không, phải
không, à… As I mentioned before, it includes Yes/No question, Tag question and
Declarative question.
In Yes/No question, the first thing we can see similar is that “yes” means “có/phải…”, “no”
means “không/không phải/không đúng…”. For example,
English:
Vietnamese:
Do you go to school today?
Hôm nay em có đi học không?
Yes, I do.
Dạ có.
On the contrary, they differ in structure. As mentioned above, word order in English
question is reversed by putting auxiliary verbs, modal verbs or the verb “to be” (operators)
before subjects and using intonation, i.e. raise voice at the end of the sentence. While
Vietnamese question word order is unchanged, “subject + predicate”, and added with
modal particles like à, ư, nhỉ, nhé,hả… or pairs of adverb like có…không, phải không,
đã…chưa, có phải…không, and normally we don’t use intonation.
English:
Vietnamese:
S + V…?
Did he work Op
here+ before?
+ (có/phải)
+ Vphải
+ không?
Trước đây anh ấyS làm
việc ở đây
không?
Are they your children?
Chúng là con của chị à?
There is another difference that in English question we have to answer “yes” if we agree,
and the following part must be in affirmative form. If we disagree, we answer “no” and
the following part must be in negative form. These are contrary to Vietnamese question
that we tend to answer “vâng/dạ” in affirmative or negative form.
B: No, I can’t.
English:
A: Can’t you do it yourself?
Yes, I can.
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Nguyễn Thị Thu Thủy
CA of Question in English and Vietnamese
B: Dạ, con không tự làm được.
Vietnamese:
A: Con không tự làm được à?
Dạ,con tự làm được.
In fact, Vietnamese doesn’t have tag question, we just translate it equivalently from
English by a statement adding “phải không”, “đúng không”, “à”, “ư”…to the end of the
sentence. In English, tag question is a grammatical structure in which a phrase such as
“isn’t it?” or “do you?” is added to the end of a statement in order to turn it into a question
or check that the statement is correct (Oxford Dictionary) and the voice raised or lowered
depends on the purpose of speaking. In addition, if the statement is affirmative, the
question tag must be in negative form and vice versa. That’s why Vietnamese learners
find
it
E.g.
English:
confused
to
use,
and
S + V…, Op + not + S?
S + Op + not + V…, Op + S?
it
needs
practicing
regularly.
S + V… phải không/à…?
Vietnamese:
You have finished your project,
Em đã hoàn thành dự án rồi phải
haven’t you?
không?
You can’t swim, can you?
Con không biết bơi à?/phải không?
In English, a statement can turn into question if we raise voice at the end of the sentence
which we call Declarative question. In Vietnamese, we usually use modal particles or
pairs of adverb. But sometimes we raise voice at the end of a statement to express
surprise and look for confirmation.
E.g.
English:
S + V … à/phải không?
Vietnamese: S + V …?
S + V + O?
Chị muốn ra nước ngoài à?
You want to go abroad?
Chị muốn ra nước ngoài? (surprise)
He is going to visit his fiancée tonight?
Tối nay anh ấy sẽ đến thăm vợ sắp cưới
phải không?
Secondly, Alternative question which offer options for people to choose, and they often
use conjunction “or” in English, “hay/hay là/hoặc là/là…hay là” in Vietnamese between
two (or three) words, phrases, or clauses. They have same meaning and purpose in both
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Nguyễn Thị Thu Thủy
CA of Question in English and Vietnamese
languages, while they differ in structure a little bit. Moreover, in English alternative
question, we raise voice in options before “or” and then lower in the last one which doesn’t
occur in Vietnamese.
E.g.
Op + S + V + O + or + O?
Op + S + V + O + hay
là/hay + O?
English:
Vietnamese:
-Do you like watching TV or listening to
Lúc rảnh, cô thích xem tivi hay nghe
music in your free time?
nhạc?
-Is he a teacher or a doctor?
Anh ấy là giáo viên hay là bác sĩ?
-Would you like apple, orange or
Anh thích táo (hay) cam hay là chuối?
banana?
The second kind is Wh-question or Question with interrogative words. In this kind, we are
freer to answer but should focus on the information needed, i.e. the purpose is to find the
information that askers don’t know and need to know. There is some equivalence
between the two languages, especially interrogative words (Wh-words): who/whom – ai,
what – gì/cái gì, what for – để làm gì, where – đâu/ở đâu/ở nơi nào, when – khi nào/lúc
nào/bao giờ, why – vì sao/tại sao, how – như thế nào…
If Wh-words function as subject, question is the same in both languages. Actually,
Vietnamese people often add modal particles like “vậy/thế/như vậy…” to the end of the
sentence.
E.g.
English:
Wh + Op + S + V…?
Vietnamese:
Wh + Op + S + V…?
Who makes you cry?
Ai làm em khóc thế?
When will he marry?
Bao giờ anh ấy kết hôn?
What made her decide?
Điều gì khiến nó quyết định vậy?
Moreover, Wh-words about reason such as why, for what reason, for which reason… are
located at the beginning of the sentence in both languages.
E.g.
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Nguyễn Thị Thu Thủy
CA of Question in English and Vietnamese
English:
Vietnamese:
Why didn’t you come?
Tại sao em không đến?
For what reason do they get divorced?
Vì lý do gì mà họ ly hôn thế?
For which reason has she been
Vì lý do nào mà cô ấy bị trả lương
underpaid?
thấp vậy?
If Wh-words don’t function as subject, English and Vietnamese questions have different
structures, obviously the word order. In Vietnamese, interrogative words can be at the
beginning or at the end of the sentence, and rarely in the centre of the sentence. Whereas,
in English, wh-words are always at the beginning of the sentence and operators must be
put before subjects. Besides, we have to lower voice at the end in English question, while
there is no rule for Vietnamese question.
E.g.
English:
Wh + V…?
Vietnamese: S + V + Wh?
Wh + Op + S + V…?
Who love you?
Ai yêu em?
What did most of the students do?
Phần lớn sinh viên làm việc gì?
What did books have to do with children?
Bọn nhỏ thì cần gì sách?
Where will she go?
Cô ấy sẽ đi đâu?
How did he do it?
Anh ấy đã làm điều đó như thế nào?
In English question, the wh-word “When” is only at the beginning and the answer depends
on the tense used. While in Vietnamese the equivalent words like “khi nào/hồi nào/bao
giờ/lúc nào” can be both at the beginning and the end, and the answer depends on the
position of the interrogative word. If the word is at the beginning, it refers to the time in
future. If the word is at the end, it refers to the past.
E.g.
English:
A: When did you graduate?
A: When are you going to graduate?
B: Last August.
B: Next year.
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Nguyễn Thị Thu Thủy
CA of Question in English and Vietnamese
Vietnamese:
A: Anh tốt nghiệp hồi nào?
A: Khi nào anh tốt nghiệp?
B: Tháng tám năm ngoái.
B: Sang năm.
When asking about means of transport, in English we use “how” while in Vietnamese we
ask “đi bằng (phương tiện) gì?” (By what).
E.g.
English:
Vietnamese:
A: How do you go to work?
A: Chị đi làm bằng (phương tiện) gì?
B: I go to work by bus.
B: Tôi đi (bằng) xe buýt.
People who have studied second language are always influenced by their mother tongue
and culture. So, they’re often confused and make mistakes when learning, mostly in terms
of question. Based on the analysis above, I would like to discuss some implications for
teaching and learning language. Firstly, in order to make it easy for student to learn,
teachers should compare and contrast the two languages in terms of culture, and explain
clearly how different in making and answering questions between the two languages.
Experiencing teaching English, I have found out that most Vietnamese students
encounter the same mistake-that is they don’t inverse operators because of Vietnamese
question forms; or they use the verb “to be” all the time. Thus, when teaching grammar,
teachers should focus on this point. Secondly, teachers can use the similarities to help
students understand difficult points, i.e. they can use equivalent translation to explain
clearly the difficult ones. Thirdly, because of the mother tongue’s influence, students don’t
know whether to raise voice or lower voice and sometimes they speak out a question with
the same tone. Therefore, teachers can help them by being a good model or using tape
and emphasize on the intonation so that they can be familiar with and use it appropriately.
Moreover, tag question doesn’t exist in Vietnamese, so teachers should pay attention to
its forms and intonation. Finally, after providing all things, teachers should give students
opportunities to practice by giving role-play or communicative activities. The more they
practice, the more successful they are.
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Nguyễn Thị Thu Thủy
CA of Question in English and Vietnamese
In brief, we all know that question is one of the most important and basic issues in every
language. Thus, it is necessary to contrast question in languages to find the similarities
and differences so that we can learn and use languages, English in this case, better and
more appropriately. This paper makes a contrastive analysis of question in English and
Vietnamese and some suggestions on teaching and learning English in Vietnam; so it can
somehow meet our needs.
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Nguyễn Thị Thu Thủy
CA of Question in English and Vietnamese
Works Cited
Đào, V. T. (n.d.). Một số trao đổi về vấn đề so sánh đối chiếu câu hỏi Việt-Anh , 1-6.
Sửu, N. Đ. (2010). Đặc điểm của câu hỏi tiếng Anh: Đối chiếu với tiếng Việt. Hanoi:
Social Sciences Pulishing House.
Thiêm, L. Q. (2004). Nghiên cứu đối chiếu các ngôn ngữ. Ha Noi: Hanoi National
University Publisher.
Wikipedia: Question. (n.d.). Retrieved December 12, 2010, from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Question
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