Semantic final: Some general characteristics of the verb phrase in English and Vietnamese

THÁI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

FINAL ASSIGNMENT
SEMANTICS
Topic: Some general characteristics of the verb phrase in
English and Vietnamese

Supervisor
Student
Date of birth
Course
Class

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TS. Nguyen Thi Dieu Ha
Vu Thi Binh Nguyen
07/09/1979
02 (2017-2019)
NNA 2

Thai Nguyen, May 2018

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1. ABSTRACT
In our globalization, the need for developing the relationship between Vietnam
and other countries has resulted in a great demand for language studying,
especially English studying throughout the country. However, English and
Vietnamese are two different languages. English has different characteristics
from those of Vietnamese, for example the grammar, the vocabulary, the
pronunciation, the meaning, etc. Anyway, whenever talking about characteristics
of any language, we should mention the components forming the sentence of
that language. They may be word phrases such as noun phrase, verb phrase,
adjective phrase and adverb phrase, etc. Therefore, in order to have a deep look
about the verb phrase of English as well as of Vietnamese, I decide to make a
research with the topic “A contrastive analysis of English and Vietnamese verb
phrases”. In this topic, I will present some general characteristics of the verb
phrase in English and Vietnamese. The purpose of presenting them is to discuss
the similarities and differences between them in two aspects: form and meaning.
Also, I provide some implications for studying the verb phrase effectively in
Vietnam. I hope that this research will help you distinguish the similarities as
well as the differences between verb phrases of the two languages. Above all, I
do this research with the hope that it can help my readers clearer about all the
similarities and differences of the verb phrase in English and Vietnamese so that
they can avoid making mistakes in their translation between these two
languages.
2. INTRODUCTION
The scope of contrastive analysis is based on the following principles and
aspects:
- Contrastive analysis of signs and appearances.
- Contrastive analysis of meanings of components.
- Contrastive analysis of forms.
In studying process I have discussed and decided together some methods such as
collecting information and data from the Internet, books, websites and finding

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document from the library. Apart from that, I have done exercises and discussed
in group. In addition, I also consult suggestions from the teacher and ask for
advice from the friends. To achieve the above aims, I also used to analyze and
contrast a lot of verb phrases in English and Vietnamese.
3. LITERARTURE REVIEW
3.1 What is the verb phrase?
There are many definitions of verb phrases in every aspect. Firstly, it is
necessary to understand what is verbs and phrase. According to Fundamentals of
English Traditional Syntax adapted by Tran Huu Manh indicates “A verb is a
word (or a part of speech) used to denote action or state, or, otherwise help to
complete the meaning of the verb phrase” (Tran, 2008, p.35). In addition, a
phrase is a group of words that have a function in a sentence; however, it does
not have a subject and verb. If it had a subject and a verb, it would be a clause.
Phrases can function in the sentence like nouns, adverbs, or adjectives.
Moreover, as Wikipedia in 2009 defined that in linguistics, a verb phrase is a
syntactic structure composed of the predicative elements of a sentence and its
function is to provide information about the subject of the sentence. In the
generative grammar framework, the verb phrase is a phrase headed by a verb. A
verb phrase may be constructed from a single verb; often, however, the verb
phrase will consist of various combinations of the main verb and any auxiliary
verbs, plus optional specifiers, complements, and adjuncts. Especially, a verb
phrase concludes three parts: the main verb, the pre-additive elements and the
post-elements that express an action or state of being.
3.2 The verb phrase in English
3.2.1 The auxiliary verbs
The auxiliary verb is the grammatical morpheme carrying information about
mood, tense, modality, and voice.

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The

mood

system

in

English

is

divided

into

four

subcategories.

+ The indicative mood.
A: When will you stop by?
B: Sometime after dinner.
+ The interrogative mood.
Can Rachel recognize him?
Who will dance with Rachel?

+ The imperative mood .
Forget that!
+ The subjunctive mood.
Had I seen you at the party, I’d have introduced you my boyfriend.
If I had a lot of money, I’d opened a café.
- Tense systems mark time. Tense is an inflection on the verb that indicates the
time reference of the expression.
She went to school yesterday. ( Past tense)
She often goes to school by bus. ( Present tense)
She will go to school tomorrow. ( Future tense)
- The modality system expresses the speakers’ sense of obligation, volition,
probability, permission, and ability.
must/ should ("Obligation"), will ("Volition"), may/ might ("Probability")
can/ may ("Permission"), can/ could ("Ability")
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- Aspect expresses either the completion or the continuation of the process
indicated by the verb in English.
- The perfect aspect which expresses the speakers' sense of completion.
Rachel has just finished her homework.
- The progressive aspect expresses the speakers' sense of continuation.
Rachel is listening to music at the moment.
- Voice systems allow speakers to view the action of the sentence in different
ways without changing the meaning.
Rachel has read the book four 2 days. (Active voice)
The book has been read in four 2 days by Rachel. (Passive voice)
- English also employs the verb do to function as a supporting auxiliary in verb
phrases. In other words, we need do in negation and question formation.
Rachel loves Joe / Rachel doesn’t love Joe / Does Rachel love Joe?

3.2.2 The main verbs
The most important part in a verb phrase is the head word. In English, the main
verb includes five types:
- Intransitive verbs are the verbs used without direct object
Rachel has just moved.
- Intensive verbs are the verbs used with complement or adverb.
Rachel becomes more attractive than ever.
- Monotransitive verbs are the verbs used with direct object.
Rachel has just sold her house.
- Complex transitive verbs: the verbs are used with direct object and
complement or adverb.
Rachel calls her dog Jack.
- Distransitive verbs: the verbs are used with indirect object and direct object.
Rachel gives Joe a piece of cake.
3.3. The verb phrase in Vietnamese
Verb phrases in Vietnamese include three elements: central element, pre-additive
element and post-additive element.
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- The central element of Vietnamese verb phrases is divided into five groups.
Group 1: This kind of verb usually goes with other verbs, not standing alone. It
includes many different types:
● Modal verbs: phải, nên, cần, dám, có thể, sẽ, định...
Anh ta cần mua một cái bàn. “Cần” is the central element.(C.E)
● Passive: bị, được, mắc, phải...
Cô ấy được tuyên dương.

“Được” is the C.E

● Verb phrases with two parallelly existential actions: đứng khóc, nằm ngủ, đi
học, đi chơi, ngồi nghe...
Anh ta nằm ngủ trên ghế sofa. (Nằm ngủ is the C.E)
● Verb phrases with two actions described by two verbs but the second verb is
an additive element (A.E) in sense: ăn đứng, ngã ngồi, đặt nằm, chết đứng...
Vấp hòn đá, nó ngã ngồi. (Ngã is the C.E and ngồi is the A.E)
Group 2: Verbs always go with additive elements.
● Verbs describing sense of moving: mở, dậy, kéo, đến, xuống, đi, bưng…
Chị tôi đi đến câu lạc bộ tiếng Anh.(Đi is the C.E and đến is A.E)
● Verbs describing sense of achieving results: hiểu ra, đọc xong, bay mất, nhặt
lấy, thu được, tìm thấy...
Tôi đã tìm thấy cái ví.(Tìm is the C.E and thấy is the A.E.)
● Verbs describing sense of affecting two objects: cho, tặng, biếu, lấy, mượn,
vay, cầm, xin, gửi...
Minh mượn Trí chiếc xe đạp. (C.E: mượn, Obj 1: Trí,Obj 2: chiếc xe đạp)
● Verbs describing sense of governing two objects. The subject orders the
object: bảo, sai, bắt, cho phép, buộc, khiến. ..
Cô ấy bắt tôi nói ra sự thật. (Bắt is the C.E)
● Verbs describing sense of governing an object and connecting with another
object: trộn, pha, nối, chắp, hòa...
Pha cà phê với sữa. (Pha is the C.E, Cà phê and sữa are objects.)
● Verbs describing sense of governing additive elements. The structure which is
used is “A is B” with the meaning of evaluating: coi, bầu, lấy, xem, cử…
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Xem anh là đối tác.
Lấy anh làm gương.
Group 3: Combination verbs: chạy ra chạy vào, bàn qua bàn lại, đi ngược về
xuôi, trèo lên tụt xuống...

Cô ấy chạy ra chạy vào phục vụ khách.
Group 4: Verbs describing sense of the state or a period of an action: bắt đầu
học, tiếp tục đi, thôi nói, hết chạy, ngừng học...
Cô ấy ngừng học piano.
3.4 Contrast between English and Vietnamese verb phrases
Through this paper, the author intends to contrast between English and
Vietnamese verb phrases in two aspects: form and meaning.
The first aspect to take into consideration when contrasting between English and
Vietnamese verb phrases is their forms. Learners can easily recognize that both
English and Vietnamese verb phrases have three parts: the central element, the
pre-additive element, and the post-additive element. Among them, the central
element must be a verb and it is obligatory while two parts of additive elements
can be optional to go with the head verb. However, English has the notion of
tense such as present tense, past tense and future tense but Vietnamese do not. In
addition, English verb phrases change their form to mark different tenses.
For example:
I am sitting beside Mary. (The present continuous tense)
I can sit beside Mary in my evening class. (The simple present tense)
In contrast, Vietnamese verb phrases always keep the same form in every
situation; instead Vietnamese uses subordinate words such as “đã, vừa, mới,
đang, sẽ” to denote the time.
For example:
Tôi đang làm bài tập. (I’m doing my homework.)
Tối nay tôi sẽ làm bài tập. (This evening, I will do my homework.)

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Similarly, form of the English verb phrase changes in interrogative and negative
sentences while Vietnamese also keeps the same form and adds subordinate

words, for example:
I didn’t see them

Tôi không nhìn thấy họ.

Can you speak French?

 Bạn nói được tiếng pháp không?

When the verb phrase functions as a subject of the sentence, its form must
change to “V-ing” in English but keep the same in Vietnamese. For example, in
English we say “ Reading is one of my hobbies” but in Vietnamese it is “ Đọc
sách là một trong những thói quen của tôi”. Moreover, some English verbs must
be followed by a preposition, whereas Vietnamese do not need, for example:
listen to, believe in, approve of, respond to, compare to, introduce to…
In addition, there are similarities and differences in form of each part between
two languages. In both languages, the central part must contain head verbs,
some of which must be followed by objects and some of which may not.
However, in English verb phrases, it contains only one head verb but not a series
of verbs like in Vietnamese. In other words, unlike English, Vietnamese have
form of one verb goes directly after another verb as a range, for example:
(+) Chủ nhật tuần sau tụi nó đi coi phim.
They will go to the movie next Sunday.
(+) Tôi làm mất chìa khòa.

 I have lost my key.

(+) Nó đi ngủ.

 He goes to sleep.

The pre-element of the verb phrase can’t be an adjective in English but it can be
in Vietnamese, for example: nhanh khỏi, lâu mòn, khẽ kêu, nhẹ nhàng khuyên
bảo. Another aspect to consider about English-Vietnamese verb phrases is the
similarities and differences in their meaning. In general, the verb phrase
provides information about the subject of the sentence. The pre-additive element
usually functions the grammar while the post-additive element functions the
meaning. However, sometimes the same English verb can go with different
prepositions to show different meanings, such as make up, make from, make of,
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make for, and make off. All of them have different meanings. Moreover, the
meaning of English auxiliaries is much more diversified. Although some
auxiliaries such as “must, might, need, ought to, should” have the same meaning
of obligation to do something, their usage depends on the level of obligation, for
example, the meaning of “must” shows the strongest obligation among them. In
contrast, Vietnamese doesn’t have this term but they use subordinate words such
as “nên, phải, cần…”
to express those meanings. Besides, according to Du (2005), some verbs have
different meanings like the verb “có” in Vietnamese have both meanings of
possession “have ” and existence “is/ are” in English.
4. CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the verb phrase is a very important component to form sentences.
Language is the most effective method of communication of human beings.
However, to understand the structure, the formation, the origin, especially the
characteristics of language is not simple at all. Actually, English and Vietnamese
are different languages. For this reason, it is obvious that each of them has its
own characteristics. That’s reason why making a comparison between the two
languages is very difficult. In this research paper, the author offered some

general knowledge about the verb phrase in English and Vietnamese as well as
the contrast between them in their forms and meanings. Moreover, the author
also suggested some implications for studying languages in Vietnam. In general,
every language has its own interesting characteristic. The important thing is that
we need to know how to use them and distinguish the differences as well as the
similarities between these languages. To sum up, the author hopes that this study
will offer some explorations about English-Vietnamese verb phrases as well as
provide some useful ideas for language students.

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REFERENCES
Beare, K. (2009). Verb Structures and Patterns. Retrieved December 15th, 2009,
from />ESLDESK. English Verbs. Retrieved December 25th, 2009 from
/>James, Carl. (1980). Contrastive Analysis. Macquarie University.
Kies, Daniel. (1995). The verb phrase. Retrieved December, 22, 2009, from
/>Kies,D.(2009). Modern English Grammar. Retrieved December 15th, 2009,
from />Odlin, Terence. (1989). Language Transfer. Cambridge: Cambridge
University.
Thomson, A. J. and Martinet, A. V. (1989). A practical English grammar.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2009). Verb phrase. Retrieved December
13th, 2009, from />Ha, V. B. (1999). Văn Phạm Anh Văn Miêu Tả (Các loại Động từ-Cách dùng
thì). Ho Chi Minh City: Tre Publishing House.

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