Tôi thích nhiếp ảnh.

to like

Breakdown of Tôi thích nhiếp ảnh.

• tôi: me
• nhiếp ảnh: photography

Questions & Answers about Tôi thích nhiếp ảnh.

What does each word in Tôi thích nhiếp ảnh mean?

• Tôi = I
• thích = like
• nhiếp ảnh = photography

So the sentence is literally I like photography.

Why is the word order Tôi thích nhiếp ảnh?

Vietnamese usually follows a simple Subject + Verb + Object order, just like English in this sentence:

• Tôi = subject
• thích = verb
• nhiếp ảnh = object

So it works the same way as I like photography.

What exactly does nhiếp ảnh mean? Is it the same as “taking pictures”?

Nhiếp ảnh means photography as a field, art, or hobby.

It is a bit broader and more formal than just taking pictures.
If you want to talk about the action of taking photos, Vietnamese often uses:

• chụp ảnh = to take photos / to photograph

So:

• Tôi thích nhiếp ảnh. = I like photography.
• Tôi thích chụp ảnh. = I like taking photos.

Both are correct, but they are not exactly the same nuance.

Is nhiếp ảnh a common everyday word?