Tôi không uống rượu.

to drink

Breakdown of Tôi không uống rượu.

• tôi: me
• không: not
• rượu: alcohol; wine

Questions & Answers about Tôi không uống rượu.

How is Tôi không uống rượu put together grammatically?

It follows a very common Vietnamese pattern:

subject + không + verb + object

So here you have:

• Tôi = I
• không = not / do not
• uống = drink
• rượu = alcohol, liquor, wine, spirits (depending on context)

So the structure is very close to I not drink alcohol.
In natural English we say I do not drink alcohol, but Vietnamese does not need a separate word like do.

Why does không come before uống?

In Vietnamese, không usually goes directly before the verb to make it negative.

So:

• uống rượu = drink alcohol
• không uống rượu = not drink alcohol

This is one of the most basic negation patterns in Vietnamese. If you want to negate an action, put không before the verb:

• Tôi không ăn = I do not eat
• Tôi không đi = I do not go
• Tôi không uống rượu = I do not drink alcohol

Does uống change the way English verbs do, like drink / drinks / drank?