A study on syntactic and semantic features of the giving verb group in english and their vietnamese equivalents

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

M.A Thesis

Field: English Language
Code: 8220201
A STUDY ON SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF
THE GIVING VERB GROUP IN ENGLISH AND THEIR
VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS
(ĐẶC ĐIỂM CÚ PHÁP VÀ NGỮ NGHĨA CỦA NHÓM ĐỘNG
TỪ GIVING TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TƢƠNG ĐƢƠNG
TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT)

QUAN THI THANH HUYEN

Hanoi, 2018

1


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

M.A Thesis

Field: English Language
Code: 8220201
A STUDY ON SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF
THE GIVING VERB GROUP IN ENGLISH AND THEIR
VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS

(ĐẶC ĐIỂM CÚ PHÁP VÀ NGỮ NGHĨA CỦA NHÓM ĐỘNG
TỪ GIVING TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TƢƠNG ĐƢƠNG
TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT)
QUAN THI THANH HUYEN

Supervisor: Dr. NGUYEN THI VAN DONG
Hanoi, 2018
2


STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
I declare that this thesis, entitled ―A STUDY ON SEMANTIC AND
SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF GIVING VERB GROUP AND THEIR
VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS‖, and the work presented in it is my own and
has been generated by me as the result of my own research.
I confirm that when I quoted from the work of others, the source was always
given and no part of this work has been published before submission.

Hanoi, 2018

QuanThi Thanh Huyen

Approved by
SUPERVISOR

Dr. Nguyen Thi Van Dong
Date:……………………

3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
During the whole process of conducting this study for her MA thesis, the
writer has received the support as well as encouragement from a number of people.
Thus, it will probably be an unacceptable mistake if this invaluable contribution to
the accomplishment of this thesis is not mentioned.
First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Dr.
Nguyen Thi Van Dong, with their patience in providing constant and careful
guidance, advice as well as useful corrections and suggestions.
Secondly, my special thanks also go to all the lecturers in the Faculty of
Postgraduate Studies, Hanoi Open University for their very useful and interesting
lectures which have laid the foundation for my thesis.
Last but not least, my sincere thanks are delivered to my beloved family and
friends, whose unlimited love and support enabled me to complete this paper.

4


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Statement of authorship
Acknowledgements

i
ii

Table of contents
List of abbreviations

iii
vi

List of tables
Abstract

vii
viii
1

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1.
Rationale
1.2.
Aims and objectives of the study
1.3.
1.4.
1.5.
1.6.
1.7.

Research questions
Methods of the study
Scope of the study
Significance of the study
Design of the study

1
2

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1.

Previous studies
2.2.
Theoretical background

2
2
3
3
4
5
5
6

2.2.1.
2.2.2.
2.2.3.
2.2.4.
2.3.
2.3.1.
2.3.2.
2.4.

6
7
7
11
14
14
16
19

Theory of syntax
Theory of semantics
Overview of English verbs
Overview of Vietnamese verbs
Theoretical framework
Overview of the giving verb group in English
Overview of the giving verb group in Vietnamese
Summary

Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY
3.1.
Subjects
3.2.
Instrumentation
3.3.
Procedures
3.4.
Statistical analysis
3.5.
Summary
Chapter 4:

20
20
20
21
21
22
24

5


SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FEATURES OF
ENGLISH GIVING VERB GROUP AND THEIR VIETNAMESE
EQUIVALENTS IN TERMS OF SYNTAX AND SEMANTICS
Syntactic features of English giving group in terms of sentence
4.1.
elements and sentence patterns
4.1.1. In terms of sentence elements

24

4.1.2.
4.2.
4.2.1.

In terms of sentence patterns
Syntactic features of the six English verbs in the giving verb group
Syntactic features of give

35
36
36

4.2.2.
4.2.3.

Syntactic features of lend
Syntactic features of pay

37
38

4.2.4.
4.2.5.
4.2.6.
4.3.
4.3.1.

Syntactic features of present
Syntactic features of donate
Syntactic features of exchange
Semantic features of the giving verb group in English
Semantic features of give

39
39
40
41
42

4.3.2.
4.3.3.

Semantic features of lend
Semantic features of pay

43
43

4.3.4.
4.3.5.
4.3.6.
4.4.

44
45
45
46

4.5.

Semantic features of present
Semantic features of donate
Semantic features of exchange
The giving verb group in English and their Vietnamese equivalents
A comparison of giving verb group in English and their Vietnamese
equivalents in terms of their syntactic feature
A comparison of giving verb group in English and their Vietnamese
equivalents in terms of semantics
Frequency of English giving verbs

4.6.
4.6.1.
4.6.2.
4.7.

Discussion
Suggestions for language teaching

Suggestions for language translating
Summary

64
64
65
67
68
68
68

4.4.1.
4.4.2.

Chapter 5: CONCLUSIONS
5.1.
Summary of findings
5.2.
Concluding remarks

24

46
48
63

6


5.3.

Recommendations for further study

69

5.3.1.

Limitations of the research

69

5.3.2.

Suggestions for further study

70

REFERENCE
APPENDIX

7


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
A
A1

Nouns or pronouns
Things/people that is influenced

A2
Co

Things given or received
Object complement

Cs
E.g.
i.e.

Subject complement
For example,
That is

No
NP
NP1
NP2
NP3
O
Oi
Od
P

Number
Noun phrase
Participant 1
Participant 2
Participant 3
Object

Indirect object
Direct object
Percentage

Pre

Preposition

S
Sb
Sth
V
*

Subject
Somebody
Something
Verb
Wrong sentence

8


LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 2.1.

Vietnamese verb classification in Vietnamese Grammar

14

Table 2.2.

The classification of the six English verbs in the giving verb
group
Total data for the research references and quoted sources

15

36

Table 4.2.

The semantic functions of each clause type having the six
English verbs in the giving verb group.
The giving verb group in terms of the sentence patterns

Table 4.3.
Table 4.4.

Frequency of the six English verbs in the giving verb group
The English giving verb group and their Vietnamese

41
62

Table 3.1.
Table 4.1.

Table 4.5.

Table 4.6.

equivalents in terms of semantic features
The summary of semantic features of the giving verb group
in English and their Vietnamese equivalents
Frequency the six giving verbs in the 8 bilingual English and
Vietnamese literary works

22

38

62
61

9


ABSTRACT
Nowadays, English is regarded as the language of modernization and technological
advancement all over the world. Learning English is also problematic for foreign
learners because they are affected by their mother tongue during the process of
studying grammar, vocabulary, spelling, pronunciation, etc. This thesis aims at
dealing with investigating syntactic and semantic features of the giving verb group
and their Vietnamese equivalents. The data quoted from the eight bilingual English
and Vietnamese literary works prove that the verb give is the most frequency use,
and the verb donate is the least frequency use. In addition, the giving verbs can be
translated with a variety of meaning in Vietnamese. The findings of this study are
the valuable knowledge for translators and teachers as well as. The results of the
study show that the six English verbs belonging to the giving verb group are give,

lend, pay, present, donate, and exchange. Semantically, the six verbs in the giving
verb group mostly mean transferring possession of some Gift from Donor to a
Recipient. However; the translators should use different words in Vietnamese
depending on the different position (higher or lower) of the Donor and the
Recipient. These initial findings of the analysis may lead to implications for
language teaching, translation as well as some suggestions for further research.

10


Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
Nowadays, English is regarded as the language of modernization and
technological advancement all over the world. Learning English is also problematic
for non-native speakers in general and foreign learners in particular because they
are affected by their mother tongue during the process of studying grammar,
vocabulary, spelling, pronunciation, etc.
On the grammatical aspect, knowledge of parts of speech helps English
learners make sentences accurately. One of the most important parts of speech in
sentences is the verb. Verbs have always been one of the most complex parts of
speech, which have most widely used and consequently, have played an important
role in any language system so far. Among English verbs, the verb give is one of the
commonest words and is used in many different ways.
There have been a lot of researchers conducting investigations into the
giving verb group in both English and Vietnamese.
In English, Newman has two research works ―Give: a Cognitive Linguistic
Study‖ and ―Figurative Giving‖. In his two studies, he explores the verb give under
the cognitive perspective.
In Vietnamese, Nguyễn Kim Thản (1977) discusses about the verb group of

giving and lists out the verb give including ban, phát, biếu, bố thí, bồi thường, bù,
cấp, cho, cấp phát, dành, dâng, giao, gửi, nhường, phú, thí, etc. Lâm Quang Đông
(2008) has a study on the constructions of denotative meaning in sentences having
verbs give and receive. These above works study the giving verb in English or
Vietnamese separately, and the relation between the verb give in English and
Vietnamese is not mentioned to.
From these above reasons, I have decided to choose the topic “A study on
syntactic and semantic features of the GIVING verb group in English and their
Vietnamese equivalents”. This study appeared as a result of difficulties that the
author faces in daily teaching related to the usage of the giving verb group. The
11


problem is that how to make sentences having the verb give, lend, pay, present,
donate, exchange, and in which patterns are used. In addition, translators are
confused when choosing these verbs to make sentences in English and translating it
into Vietnamese.
Therefore, this thesis aims at filling these gaps. Hopefully, examining the
giving verb group in English and its equivalents in Vietnamese is supposed to help
language teaching, and translating more effectively.
1.2. Aims and objectives of the study
The study is expected to provide Vietnamese teachers and translators with a
description of syntactic and semantic features of the giving verb group in English
and their Vietnamese equivalents.
Objectives of the study are as follows:
- To identify syntactic and semantic features of giving verb group in English
- To find out the differences and similarities between English giving verb
group and their Vietnamese equivalents in terms of syntactic and semantics features
-To give some possible suggestions for teaching and translating the giving
verb group in English and Vietnamese

1.3. Research questions
In general, with the aims and the objectives above, the following research
questions will be addressed:
- What are the syntactic and semantics features of the giving verb group in
English?
- What are the feature similarities and differences of the giving verb group in
English and their Vietnamese equivalents in terms of syntax and semantics?
- What are possible suggestions for teaching and translating the giving verb
group in English and Vietnamese?
1.4. Methods of the study
The study is planned to describe and analyze some syntactic and semantic
features of the giving verb group in English as well as their Vietnamese equivalents.

12


To meet the demand of the objectives, this study is going to choose English as the
source language and Vietnamese as the target one.
The methods are used in this study include descriptive and contrastive
analysis ones.
The descriptive method is exploited to search for the syntactic and semantics
features of the six verbs of the giving verb group in English.
Besides, the contrastive analysis method is useful to uncover the Vietnamese
equivalents of these six English verbs. In particular, the data collected from English
and Vietnamese literary works will be used to analyze in order to reveal the
equivalents in the two languages.
In addition, the statistical technique is also utilized. This technique helps to
collect, summarize, analyze and interpret the variable numerical data from the total
number of examples to give the frequency the six giving verbs.
The verbs are analyzed in detail beginning with give followed by lend, pay,

present, donate, exchange. Each of these verbs is described in a separate section,
and the analysis was conducted with a view to discovering such aspects of each
verb as its syntactic, semantics performed by each of these verbs. The analysis is
believed to contribute to a deeper understanding of the six English verbs. The
componential analysis will be applied to analyze the data.
1.5. Scope of the study
In this study, the major point is to focus on the English giving verb group in
terms of syntax and semantics. English is considered as source language, meanwhile
Vietnamese is target language. So, the syntactic and semantic features of the giving
verb group in English are compared with their Vietnamese equivalents.
On this base, some suggestions for Vietnamese teachers and translators are
proposed to support their using the giving verb group more effective.
1.6. Significance of the study
Theoretically, the study will provide a comprehensive and overall knowledge
about the syntactic and semantic features of the giving verb group in English.

13


Moreover, the similarities and differences between this verb groups in English and
in Vietnamese are very helpful in contrasting two languages.
Practically, the study will help teachers and translators to be able to master
some suggestions and hints in teaching and translating this verb group effectively
because the giving verb group consists of many verbs and make people confused
when its syntactic and semantic features are under many unknowns.
1.7. Design of the study
This thesis consists of five main parts:
Chapter 1 is the introduction which gives the reasons why this topic: ―The
syntactic and semantic features of the giving verb group in English and their
Vietnamese equivalents‖ has been chosen for the study as well as its aims and

objectives, scope, significance and organization of the study.
Chapter 2 is the literature review. It presents an overview of the previous
studies related to the giving verb group both in English and Vietnamese and a
review of theoretical background that can be considered as a foundation for
conducting the whole study.
Chapter 3 mentions to the methodology of the study which describes in detail
all research governing orientations and research methods.
Chapter 4 is the finding and discussion in which the similarities and
differences on the syntactic and semantic features of the giving verb group in
English in terms of their sentence patterns and sentence elements are mentioned.
Then the comparison with their Vietnamese equivalents is also given in accordance
with some possible suggestions for teaching English and translating the giving verb
group from English into Vietnamese.
Chapter 5 deals with the conclusion which summarizes the whole content of
the study, then gives some recommendations and suggestions for a further study.

14


Chapter 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Previous studies
English verbs have been the subject of several studies by linguists because
they not only play an important role in a sentence but also present particularly
interesting syntactic and semantic characteristics. In particular, even if that are often
considered as being a coherent semantic class, we can find verbs displaying
different semantic features and syntactic behavior.
In English, Dixon (1991) has a study on semantic types of words and
grammatical word classes. Bases on semantic roles, he classifies verbs into two sort
primary and secondary sort. As stated in the ―A New Approach to English Grammar

on Semantic Principles‖, he mentions the primary –A verbs including 10 verb
groups. Among this verb group, he claims there are six verbs: give, lend, pay,
present, donate, exchange in the giving verb group. The study of Dixon mentions
to the verb groups based on the semantic relations but not syntactic relations.
Newman (1996) describes a detailed semantic account of words denoting giving and
then examines how these words function in clause structures. He also gives general
remarks on give verbs, introduces forms denoting giving across a number of
languages. Moreover, he states a detailed cognitive-semantic analysis of lexical
items denoting give. The two linguists exploit the verb give on the semantic aspects
without concerning to their syntactic relations.
In Vietnamese, Lâm Quang Đông (2008) mentions to the constructions of
denotative meaning in sentences having verbs give and receive. His particular
concern is to understand what meaning the verb give and receive express in
different sentence patterns. In addition, Nguyễn Kim Thản (1977) examines the
Vietnamese verbs on the grammatical features in his study. As he also gives a list of
give and deliver verb group including ban, phát, biếu, bố thí, dồi thƣờng, bù, cấp,
cho, cấp phát, dành, dâng, đƣa, đút lót, đền, giao, gửi, nhƣờng, hối lộ, phát, phú,
nộp, tặng, thí, trả…However, his study still does not mention to the semantic
features of the giving verbs yet.
15


There also have been many researches that focus on giving verb groups. Trần
Thị Ánh Diệp (2016) investigated Vietnamese translated variants of verbs of giving
and receiving in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling. In order
to facilitate the translator in the process of translation, especially at word level, her
study is carried out at the endeavor of exploring the English verbs of giving and
receiving and their corresponding variants. Đào Thị Hồng Hạnh (2017) studies the
sentences having verbs give and receive in comparison between Vietnamese and
Japanese. In her thesis, she concentrates on describing the verb on their layers of

meaning or denotative meanings.
In brief, these above works all study on the giving verb group in their
semantic features or on their denotative meanings, there is not any researches on the
giving verb group in both syntactic and semantic features in comparison between
English and Vietnamese equivalents as well. From these reasons, I have decided to
have a study on syntactic and semantic features of the giving verb group in English
and Vietnamese equivalents, with the hope that this research can partly facilitate
teachers, and translators to be more awarded of the meanings and sentence patterns
including the giving verb group.
2.2. Theoretical background
2.2.1. Theory of syntax
Syntax is defined as a set of rules in language. It dictates how words from
different parts of speech are put together in order to convey a complete thought.
According to Dixon (1991), syntax deals with the way in which words are
combined together. Verbs have different grammatical properties from language to
language but there is always a major class verb, which includes word referring to
motion, rest, and attention, giving and speaking.
Linda Thomas(1993) states that languages are by nature extremely complex
and describing a language, any language is not an easy task. Syntax seeks to
describe the way words fit together to form sentences or utterances.
Syntax or sentence structure concerns with the way words combine together
in a language to form sentences. Every language has a limited number of syntactic
16


relations. Subject and object are probably universal of syntactic relations, which
apply to every language. However, just as the criteria for the major words class
noun and verb differ from language to language, so do the ways in which syntactic
relations are marked.
2.2.2. Theory of semantics

Semantics defined in ―The study of language‖ by George Yule is the study
of the meaning of words, phrases and sentences. In semantic analysis, there is
always an attempt to focus on what the words conventionally mean, rather than on
what a speaker might want the words to mean on a particular occasion. Also,
linguistic semantics deals with the conventional meaning conveyed by the use of
words and sentences of a language.
According to David Crystal (2008) expresses his study as follow: Semantics
is a branch of linguistics devoted to the study of meaning in language. In particular,
the approach called structural semantics applies the principles of structural
linguistics to the study of meaning through the notion of semantics relations
between lexical items (such as synonymy and antonymic). In generative grammar,
the semantic component is a major area of the organization of a grammar, which
assigns a semantic representation to a sentence and analyses lexical items of
semantics features.
In the preface of ―Linguistic semantics: An introduction‖, John Lyons
(1995) defines that ―semantics is the study of meaning in language‖. It is
systematically encoded in the vocabulary and grammar of natural languages. This
definition of linguistic semantics, as far as it goes, is relatively uncontroversial. But
it is also almost wholly uninformative unless and until one goes on to say, first,
what one means by ―meaning‖ and, second, what exactly is meant by ―encoded‖ in
this context. He also explains that those who draw a terminological distinction
between ―semantics‖ and ―pragmatics‖ and take narrower view of meaning than he
does will see his book as introduction to a broader field of linguistic semantics and
pragmatics.

17


2.2.3. Overview of English verbs
2.2.3.1. Definition of the English verb

The Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
(2010) defines verb is a word which occurs as part of the predicate of a sentence
carries markers of grammatical categories such as tense, aspect, person,
number and mood, and refers to an action or state.
For example:
He opened the door.
Jane loves Tom.
Alexander (1988) also gives the definition of English verb as a word (run) or
a phrase (run out of) which expresses the existence of a state (love, seem) or the
doing of an action (take, play).He gives two terms of verbs: verbs are used to
express distinctions in time (past, present, future) through tense (often with
adverbials of time or frequency); auxiliary verbs are used with full verbs to give
other information about actions and states. For example, he may be used with the
present participle of a full verb to say that an action was going on ('in progress') at a
particular time (For example: was swimming); have may be used with the past
participle of a full verb to say that an action is completed (For example: have
finished).
As stated by Dixon (1991), the definition of English verb is ―A verb is the
center of a clause‖. A verb refers to some activity and there must be a number of
participants who have roles in that activity as: Sinbad carried the old man; or it may
refer to a state, and there must be a participant to experience the state as: My leg
aches.
A set of verbs is grouped together as one semantic type partly because
they require the same set of participant roles. All giving verbs require a Donor, a
Gift and a Recipient, as in:
John gave a bouquet to Mary.
Jane lent the Saab to Bill.
The Women‟s Institutes supplied the soldiers with socks.
18

(R.M.W. Dixon, 1991: 9)
According to David Crystal (2008), verb is a term used in the grammatical
classification of words, to refer to a class traditionally defined as ‗doing‘ or ‗action‘
words. The formal definition of a verb refers to an element which can display
morphological contrasts of tense, aspect, voice, mood, person and number.
Functionally, it is the element which, single or in combination with other verbs as a
‗verb phrase‘, is used as the minimal predicate of a sentence, co-occurring with a
subject (E.g. she/wrote). If the predicate contains other elements (E.g. object,
complement, adverbial), then it is the verb which more than any other is the unit
which influences the choice and extent of these elements; (E.g. the verb put
takes both an object and a locative adverbial, as in he put the book on the
table.). In many grammatical theories, accordingly, the verb is considered the
most important element in sentence structure.
2.2.3.2. English verb classification
There are many different classifications of an English verb depending on
different categories. According to Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written
English (2002), verbs are classified as follows:
Verbs perform two major functions in clauses: main verbs and auxiliary
verbs. Main verbs are the central element in a clause and autarky verbs qualify the
meaning of the main verb. In addition, verb forms can be grouped into three major
classes according to their ability to function as main verbs or auxiliary verbs:
Lexical verbs (run, eat, think) function only as main verbs, primary verbs (be, have,
and do) can function as both auxiliary and main verbs, and modal verbs (can,
could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, must) function only as auxiliary verbs.
In ―A new approach to English grammar on semantics principles‖, Dixon
states that verbs fall into two board subclasses-those that require only one role
(intransitive verb) and those which require two or more roles (transitive verbs).
There is considerable difference between intransitive subject and transitive subject.
In term of the function within the verb phrase, Quirk et al (1985) states that

verbs are divided into open class of full verbs (or lexical verbs such as leave), and
19


closed classes (be, have, do) of primary verbs and of modal auxiliary verbs (will,
might). Of these three classes, the full verbs can act only as main verbs, the modal
auxiliaries can act only as auxiliary verbs, and the primary verbs can act either as
main verbs or as auxiliary verbs.
In term of sentence patterns, Quirk et al (1985) classify verbs into two types:
intensive verbs and extensive verbs.
a. Intensive verbs
Intensive verbs are also called copular verbs, and they are usually followed
by a noun, or a noun phrase, and adjective or prepositional phrase. Intensive verbs
are used to describe the subject. It means that the focus is on one thing, the subject
only. Intensive verbs appear in the structure ―S V C‖ or ―S V A‖. Words or phrases,
which are followed by an intensive verb work as the subject compliment and they
apply to the subject, not the verb. Let‘s consider the following examples:
Your dinner seems ready. (SVC)
My office is in the next building. (SVA)
(Quirk, Randolph, 1985: 721)
b. Extensive verbs
Extensive verbs are most other verbs, they do not have subject compliment.
Extensive verbs are used to say what the subject is doing. It covers a wider area; it
takes the information away from the subject. Words or phrases, which are followed
by an extensive verb work as the verb‘s object. They apply to the verb, not the
subject as in He stayed very quiet. (Quirk, Randolph, 1985: 55).
Extensive verbs include three small types: monotransitive, complex transitive
and ditransitive.
Ditransitive verbs are verbs which take a subject and two objects or have the
structure ―SVOO‖. According to certain linguistic considerations, these objectives

may be called direct, indirect objectives, or primary and secondary objectives as in
the following examples:
I must send my parents an anniversary card. (SVOO)
(Quirk, Randolph, 1985: 721)
20


In contrast, mono transitive verbs take only one object and appear in the
structure ―S V O‖ as in the following example:
That lecture bored me. (SVO)
(Quirk, Randolph, 1985: 721)
Verb requires both a direct object and another object or an object
complement is complex transitive verbs. Complex transitive verbs appear in the
structure ―SVOC‖ or ―SVOA‖. In a complex- transitive construction, the object
complement identifies a quality or attributes pertaining to the direct object. Let‘s
consider the following examples:
Most students have found her reasonably helpful. (SVOC)
You can put the dish on the table. (SVOA)
(Quirk, Randolph, 1985: 721)
2.2.4. Overview of the Vietnamese verbs
Up to now, there has been a vast amount of research on the linguistic field in
Vietnamese grammar and parts of speech. Vietnamese is an isolating and analytic
language in which grammatical meanings are shown chiefly through word order and
function words (grammatical words). Also, Vietnamese words have the same forms
in different positions in sentences. As a result, several grammatical structures are
similar in form-organization but different in grammatical meanings.
E.g.: Tôi đi làm bằng xe máy. (I go to work by motorbike.)
Hôm qua tôi đi làm bằng xe máy.
(Yesterday, I went to work by motorbike.)
In contrast with verbs in English, verbs in Vietnamese do not have the

concord with other parts of speech. In other words, they are not affected by number,
gender, mood, voice and tense. In Vietnamese, 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. In addition, when playing function as central component of a verb phrase,
verb can combine with other modal auxiliary components before it to indicate scope
of the action or activity such as „cũng‟,„đều‟, „cứ‟, etc. to indicate continuation like
„còn‟, „vẫn‟, etc.; to indicate tense, aspect such as „sắp‟, „đang‟, „sẽ‟, „đã‟, etc.; to
21


refer to negative meaning, for example: ‗chƣa‘, ‗không‘, ‗chẳng‘, etc.; to indicate
advice or prohibit such as: „hãy‟, „đừng‟, „chớ‟, and so on. However, as Cao Xuân
Hạo suggested, such auxiliary components, especially „sắp‟, „đang‟, „sẽ,,„đã‟ should
be used with great care because in some cases these auxiliaries do not at all indicate
the tense. For instances, a soldier reunited with his family for five days, and the next
day when he had to come back to his military unit. His wife said to him: ―Ngày mai
anh đã đi rồi à?‖, ―đã‖ here does not indicate tense; it just helps to show regret.
Obviously, in Vietnamese, context holds the key factor to define tense of the verbs.
2.2.4.1. Definition of Vietnamese verb
According to Lê Biên (1990:70), and Diệp Quang Ban (2001:21),
Vietnemese verbs are substantives referring to progress, forms of movements. They
may be activities (1), states (2), changing progress (3), and movement (4), etc.
For example: (1) Cô ấy đọc sách. / Anh ấy viết thƣ.
(2) Nó nhớnhà./ Em hiểu bác mà.
(3) GS Ngô Bảo Châu đã trở thành nhà bác học nổi tiếng thế
giới.
(4) Bạn tôi đi thành phố Hồ Chí Minh rồi.
2.2.4.2. Vietnamese verb classification
With regards to linguistics, there have been many different ways to classify
verbs in each language by different authors. However, the classification of the verbs

by Diệp Quang Ban and Hoàng Văn Thung will be applied in this thesis. The two
linguisticians study and classify Vietnamese verbs into two kinds: Independent
verbs (động từ độc lập) and dependent verbs (động từ không độc lập). The
independent verbs are verbs followed by a direct object (thing or person that
receives the action of the verb). The independent verbs can not stand alone to
complete the meaning of the sentences including these verbs.
For example: Lan đưa tôi cuốn sách. Tôi yêu Hà Nội. In contrast, dependent
verbs stand alone in a sentence without any help verbs. For example: Trời mưa, Cô
ấy hát, etc. However, some verbs can be both dependent verbs and independent
verbs depending the way they are used. The verb break, for instance, sometimes
22


needs an object such as in the sentence: Julia breaks my heart. This verb does not
need a direct object in the sentence: When I hear your name, my heart breaks.
In each major type, he subdivides them based on several factors. The
classification of Vietnamese verbs is summarized in the following table:

Classification

Meaning in

Meaning

of Vietnamese verbs

Vietnamese

in English

Modal

nên, cần, phải …

Necessity

có thể, không thể ...

Ability

định, toan, dám, nỡ

Will

mong, muốn, ƣớc …

Expect

bị, đƣợc, mắc, phải, chịu Passive
…

Independent
verb
Relation

By Adjunct
followed
Dependent
verb

cho là, xem, lấy …

Estimation

là, làm

Parity

còn, có mất, biết …

Existence

Có

possession

hóa, thành, hóa ra ...

Change

bắt đầu, tiếp tục …

time process

gần, xa, gần gụi …

spatial process

giống, khác, hơn, kém ...

Comparison

viết, đánh, đi, nói, nghe ... Action
yêu, ghét,thích, mê …

State

thấy, cảm thấy
By notional
words
followed

ngồi, đứng, nằm, lăn …

Action

ngủ, thức, cƣời …

(notional words needn‘t

cằn nhằn, hậm hực …

be required/ intransitive

đánh, trồng, học …

verbs)

cho, tặng, gửi, lấy..
23

action
Dependent
verb

By notional
words
followed

sai, bảo, khiến …

(notional words are

ra, vào, lên, xuống …

usually required /

đi, chạy, bò, lăn ...

monotransitive verbs or

kéo, đẩy, xô ...

ditransitive verbs)

Table 2.1: Verb classification in Vietnamese Grammar
Source: Diệp Quang Ban and Hoàng Văn Thung (1992:100)

2.3. Theoretical framework

2.3.1. Overview of the giving verb group in English
Regarding to verb classes, Quirk et al (1985:53) state that there are three
main verb classes. Quirk et al claim that intranstitive verbs are followed by no
obligatory element, and occur in type SV. Transitive verbs are followed by an
object, and occur in types SVO, SVOO, SVOC, and SVOA respectively. Colpular
verbs are followed by a Subject complement or Adverbial, and occur in types SVC
and SVA. In a general sense, the term transitive is often applied to all verbs which
required an object, including those of clause types SVOO, SVOC, and SVOA. The
patterns below give a further classification. The transitive verbs can be classified in
to smaller classes as monotransitive verbs, ditransitive verbs, or complex transitive
verbs.
Monotransitive verbs occur in type SVO
TRANSITIVE VERBS
Ditransitive verbs occur in type SVOO
Complex transitive verbs occur in type SVOC

and SVOA
In a sentence (a simple sentence or multiple sentence), a verb belongs to the giving
verb group can be followed by a direct object and indirect object or by no obligatory
24


element. One verb can be intransitive verb or transitive verb in different sentences.
Different verb classes require different complementation (Od, Oi, Cs, Co, A) to
complete the meaning of the verb, or no complementation.
Through investigating the six English verbs in the dictionary, the author has
the classification of these verbs as below:
No

Verb

Intransitive

Transitive

1

Give

X

X

2

Lend

-

X

3

Pay

X

X

4

Present

X

X

5

Donate

X

X

6

Exchange

X

X

Table 2.2: The classification of the six English verbs in the giving verb group
The five English verbs in the giving verb group can be intransitive verbs or
transitive verbs depending on the sentence pattern which they join. There is only
verb lend which is always transitive verb. Therefore, this verb is followed by
objects.
Semantically, Angela Downing and Philip Locke (2002:90), state that there
are two main types of ditransitive complementation: the basic type, in which an

Indirect Object is followed by a Direct Object, and another, in which a Direct
Object is followed by a prepositional Object. They also classify give verbs into the
verbs of transfer. For example: I gave her a present. This is the basic ditransitive
pattern. Three-place verbs like give have a subject and two Objects, representing the
transfer of goods or information from one person to another.
E.g.: He showed the policeman his driving license.
(He showed his driving license to the policeman.)
As the examples show, the indirect Object has a prepositional counterpart,
the give type with to, and the prepositional functions as a prepositional object.
E.g.: I gave a present to her.
25