English and Vietnamese verb phrase 1
English and Vietnamese verb phrase
English and Vietnamese Verb Phrase: A Contrastive Analysis
Đinh Triều Giang
HCMC University of Pedagogy
English and Vietnamese verb phrase 2
Abstract
In this research, “English and Vietnamese Verb Phrase”, I would like to briefly give the
definition and structure of a verb phrase. Then, I will examine English and Vietnamese verb
phrase to work out their differences and similarities between them. Based on what I found, I
will give some suggestions to bridge the gap in learning, esp. learning verb phrase in the two
languages.
English and Vietnamese verb phrase 3
Introduction
In Vietnamese, unlike in English, verbs system lack S-V agreement, tense marker, and form
changing. That creates the uniqueness of Vietnamese in comparison with English. That also
causes many troubles for Vietnamese learners to learn English and vice versa. As verb phrase
is one of the main components that form structure of a sentence, if not being taught
sufficiently, it can become one of the most difficult parts for learners when learning their
target language. That’s why; I think the topic is important enough to study.
The purpose of this research is to work out a contrastive view on English and Vietnamese
verb phrase, based on which I suggests some solutions to some typical problems that learners
frequently meet with.
English and Vietnamese verb phrase 4
What is a verb phrase?
Let us begin by giving definition of a verbs phrase. According to Jackson H. (18), “a verb
phrase contains one lexical verb as head and may have auxiliary verbs”. Let us put it in a
simpler way; In a verb phrase, there is always a lexical verb as the main element, together
with other elements (auxiliaries, modifiers, etc.)
Eg:
She can’t have been there.
Hôm nay, tôi đi học.
An overview of English verb phrase:
A verb phrase in English consists of two main elements: lexical verbs and auxiliary verbs.
Structure:
auxiliary verb + lexical verb
Lexical verb:
In a verb phrase, lexical verb or head or main verb carries the primary reference, relating to
an action, process, or event. It could be classified into 3 main categories: copula, transitive
and intransitive verbs.
1. Copula:
Verbs of this type are: be, get, seem, turn, go, get… this kind of verb needs a complement to
go after.
Eg: It gets dark.
V Comp
2. Intransitive
This type of verb includes: sleep, nod, come, move…, after which an adjunct goes.
Eg: She is sleeping peacefully.
V
Adjunct
3. Transitive
Mono transitive: this kind of verb requires only one direct object - V + Odirect
English and Vietnamese verb phrase 5
Eg: They have just bought a new car
V
Odirect
Ditransitive: Some common verbs are: give, bring, offer… Two objects will follow
a ditransitive verb – V + Odirect + O indirect
E.g.: He brought my friends new books yesterday
V
Odirect
O indirect
Auxiliary verbs:
McArthur claims that auxiliary verbs or auxiliaries serve to realize the grammatical
categories associated with the verb phrase esp. tense, aspect and mood. Among auxiliary
verbs, we distinguish primary auxiliaries (be, have, do) and modal auxiliaries (can, may, will,
must, etc.)
1. Primary auxiliary (be, have, do) are those verbs which can function as auxiliary
verbs and main verbs:
Eg: I am waiting for my friends.
vs
aux.
He has gone.
aux.
I am a foreigner.
main verbs
vs
He has five pencils.
main verbs
2. Modal auxiliary:
Modality system include verbs such as can, may, will, must, should, etc. expresses
the speakers’ sense of obligation, volition, probability, permission, and ability. Modality is
signaled the fact that modal verbs always come first and is followed by the infinitive
Eg: He may come.
They can stay at the hotel. .
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Order of auxiliary:
Another important feature should be mentioned in this research is the order of auxiliaries in a
verb phrase. As Jackson, H. has noted in his book, the relative order among auxiliary verbs is
as follow (19):
Auxiliary verbs
Modality
Perfective aspect
(have)
Progressive aspect
(be +Ving)
Voice
(be + Ved)
might
Lexical verbs
shake
might
have
been
might
have
been
shaking
being
shaken
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An overview of Vietnamese verb phrase:
Vietnamese verb phrase contain one main verb, together with some other elements, called
pre-verbs, and post-verbs.
Pre verb + lexical verb + post verb
Lexical verb:
Nguyen, Đ.H has stated in his earlier paper, there are 10 types of verbs which can serve
function of a lexical verb.
1. Non-action verbs (intransitive?):
These include some verbs of static position such as ngồi (to sit), đứng (to stand), ngủ (to
sleep), etc.
2. Verbs of existence, appearance or disappearance:
Examples are có (to exist), còn (to remain), mọc, nổi (to erupt), etc.
3. Auxiliary verbs
These helping verbs include such modals as; có thể (can), phải (have to, must), cần (need),
muốn (want to), định (be about to, intend to), etc., which are closely tied to main verb. The
auxiliary verbs have a predicative value; unlike temporal marker, it can stand alone by itself,
as in:
Eg;
Anh có cần không?
Cần.
4. Copula:
Verb là (to be so-and-so, equal; that is, namely; as – an “identificational marker”, an equative
verbs which is like the ‘=’ sign.
5. Linking or classificatory verbs:
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This type of verb, which cannot occur without an attributive, are comparable to the English
verbs of becoming (Nguyen, Đ.H 151): hóa (to change into), thành (to become), như (to be
like), trở thành (to become sth worse), etc.
6. Quotive verbs:
This subclass, which often has a clause as an object, includes such verbs of thinking, knowing
and saying, bảo (to tell); biết (to know), hiểu (to understand), nhớ (to remember); tin (to
believe), etc.
Eg: Tôi nghĩ rằng anh nên đi (“anh nên đi” is a clause which modifies the quotive verb nghĩ
rằng)
7. Action verbs (transitive ?)
Verbs of action: ăn (to eat), uống (to drink), mở (to open), đóng (to close), etc.
Verbs of motion: ra (to exit), lên (to ascend), xuống (to descend), về (to return), lại (to come),
etc.
Semi active verbs: thích (to like), yêu (to love), ghét (to hate), được ( to get, obtain, receive),
bị (to suffer, sustain, undergo), chịu (to sustain, be resigned to), etc.
Verbs of bodily movements: Gật (to nod), lắc (to shake), cúi (to bend), vươn (to stretch),
nhún (to shrug), nghển (to crane), etc
8. Ditransitive verbs
Supgroup I:
There is a large numer of double - object verbs. This subgroup1 includes such verbs of giving
and taking/receiving as, on the one hand: đưa ( to hand), giao (to deliver), phát (to
distribute), tặng (to present); and vay (to borrow), nợ (to owe), nhận (to receive) on the other
hand.
The pattern is:
V + Odirect + cho + recipient or: V + cho + recipient + Odirect
V + Odirect + của + patient or: V + của + patient + Odirect
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Subgroup II:
This subgroup 2 comprises verbs of insertion such as: ấn (to push), điền (to fill out), nhồi (to
stuff), nhét (to cram), thọc (to thrust), etc.
The pattern is:
V + Odirect + vào/ vô + Goal
Subgroup III:
Verbs of evaluation and selection that comprise this subgroup 3 are coi (to consider, to
regard), gọi (to call), bầu (to elect), cử (to appoint), chọn/lựa/tuyển (to select), etc.
The pattern is:
V + Odirect + là/làm + complement
9. Causative verbs:
Causative verbs have been called telescoping verbs since in the V1 Noun V2, Noun is at the
same time object of the main verbs (V1) and subject of the second verb (V2). These
“telescoping” verbs make up a sizeable subclass: cho (to allow, to permit), để (to let), làm (to
make, to render), mời (to invite), xin ( to ask, to request), đòi hỏi (to demand), giúp ( to help),
ép ( to compel), khuyên (to advise), etc..
10. Stative verbs:
This subclass of verbs of state, condition or quality is comparable to the class of class of
Adjectives in English, French, etc. Most authors do not include them in the word-class of
verbs and treat them as a separate part of speech.
Pre – verb:

Negation marker: không, không có…

Degree marker: rất, hơi, quá, khá…

Imperative marker: hãy, đừng, chớ…

Frequency marker: thường, luôn, thỉnh thoảng…
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
Temporal marker: đã, đang, sẽ…
Post – verb (or co-verb):
Co-verbs of Direction:
They are the verbs, which themselves are full – fledged of verbs of motion, occur following
the main verb and play the secondary role. Some of them are:
đi (off/away) 🡢 bay đi (fly away)
đi (signal of an injunction of urging, to express sense of destruction, eraser, etc. or change for
the worse) 🡢 bỏ đi (to abandon), già đi (to age), gầy đi (to become thinner).
ra (suggest a movement “with a starting point comparatively less spacious than the
destination” (Nguyen, Đ.H 145) 🡢 cởi ra (to take off), thả ra (to release/set free).
Co-verbs of result:
thấy (to perceive)🡢 nghe thấy (to hear), tìm thấy (to find out)
được (indicate an advantage) 🡢 Hắn lấy được cô vợ đep (He luckily married a pretty girl)
phải (indicate a disadvantage) 🡢 Hắn lấy phải cô vợ xấu (He unluckily married an ugly girl)
mất, hết (to lose) 🡢 Hắn tiêu mất nửa tháng lương. (He spent half of his monthly salary)
Co-verb of completion:
Xong, rồi (to finishsth/ achieve sth) 🡢 hiểu rồi (to understand), làm xong (to complete)
Co-verbs of repetition and continuation:
Lại (again), nữa (to continue)🡢 nhắc lại (to repeat), học nữa (to keep learning)
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In this paper, I would like to give a comparison between English and Vietnamese verb phrase
in terms of the grammatical categories associated with the verb phrase esp. tense, aspect, and
voice:
Tense:
A distinctive feature of Vietnamese verbs is the absence of tense inflection. “a sentence refers
to the basic time of the context – that is the time which has been made clear in the context up
to that point”. (Nguyen, 141). Furthermore, the form of the verb does not change according to
the time when the action or process takes place. On the other hand, English has a tense
system which marks time. “Tense is an inflection on the verb that indicates the time reference
of the expression. In English, tense is marked on the operator (the first verb in a verb phrase).
There are two tenses in English. While the –s inflection marks the present tense, the – ed
inflection marks the past tense”. (McArthur)
Năm ngoái tôi đã đi Hải Phòng rồi.
I already went to Haiphong last year.
Tuần này tôi đi Hải Phòng.
I am going to Haiphong this week.
Tháng sau tôi sẽ đi Hải Phòng.
I will go to Haiphong next month.
Aspect:
The aspectual auxiliary verb “have” in English is also important special case usage in the
present perfect, In English, aspect signals either the completion or the continuation of the
process indicated by the verb in English. Progressive aspect shows the speakers’ sense of
continuation while the perfective aspect expresses the speakers’ sense of completion. That’s
why; the Present Perfect is different from the Past. However, because there is no concept of
tense in Vietnamese, only the temporal marker “đang” to express progressive tense and “đã”
is used for the past tense and present perfect tense.
Voice:
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. It is difficult to recognize Vietnamese active or passive voice because “bị, được, do” are
used both in typical passive and typical active voice. In fact, voice in Vietnamese is still
recognizable by determining who the agent is or who the receiver is. We can determine the
active or passive by checking whether the subject is the agent, who creates the action (active),
or the receiver (passive), or the one who is affected by the agent. Let us examine some
examples below:
Eg 1:
Jim bỏ bạn (Jim abandoned his friend)
(1)
Jim bị bạn bỏ. (Jim was abandoned by his friend)
(2)
🡢In (1) Jim is the agent who takes the action bỏ (abandon), so the verb in (1) is the
active, while in (2), Jim is the receiver of the abandonment of his friend (bị bỏ).
In the case of bị (passive), an action being ‘unfavorable” to the speaker is indicated, and bị
active has a negative meaning; while in the case of được (passive), an action being
“favorable” to the speaker is indicated and được has a positive meaning.
Eg 2:
Tôi được đi biển. (I had a chance to go to the beach.)
(3)
Tôi được đưa đi biển. (I was taken to the beach.)
(4)
Verb được in (3) indicates an opportunity, while được in (4) indicates the action of being
taken to the beach.
The word order of passive and active in English and Vietnamese is remarkably important.
In English, the passive sentence structure will follow:
S (receiver) + be + pp + by + O (agent)
While in Vietnamese passive, the structure will be like this:
S (receiver) + bị/ được/do + O (agent) + V
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Pedagogical implication:
From the discussion on differences and similarities between the verb phrase in two
languages, I would like to give some strategies to help learners in teaching and acquiring
their second language more easily:
Firstly, it is common that most student tend to combine word of degree rất (very), khá
(rather) with some verbs like ghét (hate), yêu (love), etc., which is rarely seen in English.
That’s why; new combinations like “very hate”, “rather love” are ungrammatical. We, the
teachers should pay attention to this common error, and should remind our students to
avoid it as soon as possible to keep them correct at the very beginning of their learning
process.
Secondly, another common mistake frequently encountered is the matter of changing verb
forms. As mentioned above, there is no tense system in Vietnamese, which results in no
change in verb forms. That really troubles Vietnamese learners when learning English.
They may find it hard to remember all those forms of irregular verbs. So, the Teachers
should create some easy-to-remember rules to help the students. In addition, we can
conduct oral repetition chorally at the beginning of the class. That is, at the beginning of
the class, the teacher asks the class to say aloud all three forms of, let us say, five
irregular verbs. Five words a day will gradually broaden the students’ knowledge of
irregular verbs.
Last but not least, the subject of voice is one of the most intrinsic but also the most
intricate grammatical points that perplex language learners. To solve the problem, we can
design some group-work activities on active/passive voice. In a group, together, students
help each other to build up correct sentences. The more they practice, the more skillful at
Voice they are.
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In conclusion, up to now, we already had an over view of Vietnamese and English verb
phrase. We also get some ideas about their troublesome disparities and ways to solve the
problems. I hope that, readers may find some useful information for their teaching and
learning a second language. On the other hand, the paper can not avoid shortcomings. I
hope to receive comments from other researchers and readers to make it more accurate
and meaningful.
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Reference
Jackson, H. Analyzing English. Saigon: Thanh Nien publishing house
Tom McArthur. "Auxiliary Verb." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language.
1998. Retrieved December 25, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com:
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-AUXILIARYVERB.html
Tom McArthur. "Tense." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language.
1998. Retrieved December 30, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com:
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-TENSE.html
Nguyen, Đ.H. Mon-Khmer Studies Journal. Retrieved December 20, 2009 from:
http://sealang.net/archives/mks/Vietnamese.htm