có
Galician
Vietnamese
Etymology
From Proto-Vietic *kɔːʔ (“to have”). Cognate with Muong cỏ.
Pronunciation
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [kɔ˧˦]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [kɔ˨˩˦]
- (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [kɔ˦˥]
Audio (Hà Nội) (file) Audio (Ho Chi Minh City) (file)
Verb
- to have
- Tao có hai con xe.
- I have two motorbikes.
- Tôi có chồng.
- I have a husband. / I'm a married woman. / I'm married.
- Nhà tôi có hai con.
- I have two kids. / There are two kids in my family.
- Cậu có bút chì không? Cho tớ mượn.
- Do you have a pencil? May I borrow it?
- Có hai người trong phòng.
- There are two people in that room.
- Có việc gì không ?
- Is there a problem? / Is there anything I can help you with? / What is it? / Do you have some business here?
Usage notes
- When functioning as a full verb, có indicates possession in its broadest sense. Có can also indicate existence, which is equivalent to "there is" or "there are". In many expressions, có is simply equivalent to "to have": có kinh nghiệm ("to have experience"), có hai con ("to have two children"), có bạn gái / bạn trai ("to have a girlfriend / boyfriend"), etc. Có is also used to form idiomatic expressions; most idiomatic expressions of the "có + noun" type are equivalent to English "to be + adjective": có hiếu ("to be filial"), có tuổi ("to be old"), etc. A number of words that contain có are perceived by native speakers as whole words. Có has been somewhat bleached of its original meaning in such words as có khi (“maybe, probably”), có mặt (“to be present”), có thể (“can, to be able”), etc.
Prefix
có
- (before verbs, for emphasis or intensification) do; does
- Mày không biết phải không?
Tao có biết!- You don't know, do you?
I do know, okay?
- You don't know, do you?
- Em bị mất vở! Em có làm bài thầy ơi!
- I lost my workbook! I swear I did the assignment!
- (before verbs, in questions (generally ending in không), not before có itself) do
- Bạn có biết chúng ta chỉ sử dụng 10% não bộ?
Có, và đó là chuyện nhảm nhí.- Did you know we only use 10% of our brain?
Yes, and that's utter nonsense.
- Did you know we only use 10% of our brain?
- Anh có định đi chơi đâu không?
- Are you going out?
Usage notes
The interrogative expression có … không forms in most cases a yes-no question and encircles the verbal and adjectival predicate. Có is placed in front of the verb or adjective, and không comes at the end of the sentence. The word order is: subject + có + predicate + không? In informal communication, có can be omitted.
- Mấy đứa bạn anh có hay đi phượt hông? ― Do your friends often go on road trips on motorbikes?
- Anh có khoẻ không? ― How are you?
The interrogative expression có phải … không also forms a yes-no question and encircles the nominal predicate and the predicate expressed by của. When encircling the nominal predicate, the equative (or linking) verb là is used. When encircling the predicate expressed by của, then là is optional.
- Các bạn anh có phải là sinh viên không? ― Are your friends students?
- Cái máy vi tính này có phải (là) của bạn anh không? ― Does this computer belong to your friend?
For an affirmative response to a có phải … không question, vâng is used at the beginning of the response as well. The negative reply may begin with either không or không phải.
Interjection
Adverb
có
Usage notes
- Unlike chỉ, có in the sense of "only" is placed after the verb.