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# Vietnamese Cheatsheet ## Unique Features - Monosyllabic language with complex tone system - No grammatical gender - Complex noun and verb structures with many particles - Pronouns are rarely used - Pronunciation differences between regions - Some loanwords from Chinese and French ## Letters and Sounds - Vietnamese uses the Latin alphabet with additional diacritical marks - Vietnamese has six tones that distinguish word meaning - Vietnamese has several sounds that don't exist in English, such as the "ng" sound ### Example - The word for "hello" is "xin chào" - The tone on the first syllable distinguishes it from other words with the same syllable, such as "xinh" (pretty) ## Vocabulary - Vietnamese words are often formed by combining words or adding particles - Vietnamese has many loanwords from Chinese and French - Some words have different meanings in different regions ### Example - The word for "car" is "xe hơi" - The word for "motorbike" is "xe máy" - Both words are used in Vietnam, but "xe máy" is more common in Hanoi ## Grammar - Vietnamese has no grammatical gender - Adjectives come after the noun they modify - Vietnamese verbs are inflected based on tense, mood, and aspect - Vietnamese has a subject-verb-object word order - Vietnamese has a formal and informal register, with different verb conjugations and vocabulary ### Example - The sentence "I am a student" is "Tôi là sinh viên" - The word for "student" is "sinh viên" - The word order is subject (I), verb (am), and object (student) ## Resources - [Duolingo Vietnamese Course](https://www.duolingo.com/course/vi/en/Learn-Vietnamese-Online) - [VietnamesePod101](https://www.vietnamesepod101.com/) - [Vietnamese Grammar in Use](https://www.amazon.com/Vietnamese-Grammar-Use-Reference/dp/0521545711) - [Vietnamese news websites](https://tuoitre.vn/, https://vnexpress.net/)