Demonstratives
Demonstratives: này (this), kia/đó (that), ấy (that mentioned)
Can use này/đó/kia/ấy correctly after nouns
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Con mèo này rất dễ thương.
This cat is very cute.
Anh ấy là bác sĩ, cô ấy là giáo viên.
He is a doctor, she is a teacher.
Đây là phở, đó là bún.
This is pho, that is bun (rice noodles).
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Từ chỉ định — Demonstratives
Vietnamese demonstratives come AFTER the noun (opposite of English!). They work with classifiers.
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| này | this (near speaker) | cái bàn này (this table) |
| đó/kia | that (far from speaker) | cái bàn đó (that table) |
| ấy | that (previously mentioned) | cô ấy (she/that woman) |
| đây | here / this (standalone) | Đây là nhà tôi. (This is my house.) |
Pattern: (classifier) + noun + này/đó/kia/ấy. The classifier is required with này/đó/kia but may be dropped in casual speech.
ấy for pronouns: anh ấy = he (that older brother), cô ấy = she (that aunt/miss), nó = it/he/she (informal, can be rude for adults).
Common Error Patterns
Placed demonstrative before the noun
Vietnamese demonstratives come AFTER the noun: cái bàn này (table this = this table), NOT *này cái bàn.
Con mèo này rất dễ thương.
This cat is very cute.
này comes AFTER the noun: con mèo này = cat this = this cat. NOT *này con mèo!
Anh ấy là bác sĩ, cô ấy là giáo viên.
He is a doctor, she is a teacher.
anh ấy = he (lit: that older-brother). cô ấy = she (lit: that aunt/miss). ấy refers to someone previously mentioned.
Đây là phở, đó là bún.
This is pho, that is bun (rice noodles).
đây = this (standalone, for pointing). đó = that (standalone). Used without a classifier when pointing or introducing.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises