Tôi chọn tiểu thuyết này.

Word by word:

• Tôi = I
• chọn = choose / select
• tiểu thuyết = novel
• này = this

So the structure is very close to I choose this novel.

In Vietnamese, demonstratives such as này (this) usually come after the noun, not before it.

So:

• tiểu thuyết này = this novel
• literally: novel this

This is normal Vietnamese word order. English says this novel, but Vietnamese says novel this.

Vietnamese does not use articles the way English does. There is usually no direct equivalent of a, an, or the in a basic sentence like this.

So tiểu thuyết này already means this novel, and the noun does not need an article.

This is a very common adjustment for English speakers learning Vietnamese.

Tôi is a common, neutral, and fairly polite way to say I. It is often used:

• in formal situations
• with strangers
• when you want to sound neutral

However, Vietnamese pronouns depend heavily on the relationship between speakers. In real life, people often use kinship-style pronouns instead, such as:

• mình
• em
• anh
• chị
• con
• cháu

So tôi is correct, but it is not the only way to say I.

Chọn can mean:

• choose
• pick
• select

It is a general verb for making a choice.

Examples:

• Tôi chọn cái này. = I choose/pick this one.
• Bạn chọn món nào? = Which dish do you choose?

So in your sentence, chọn is a very natural verb.

Often, yes, Vietnamese commonly uses a classifier for books, such as:

• cuốn
• quyển

A very natural version would be:

• Tôi chọn cuốn tiểu thuyết này.
• Tôi chọn quyển tiểu thuyết này.

Your original sentence Tôi chọn tiểu thuyết này is understandable and grammatical, but many speakers would find the version with a classifier more natural in everyday speech when referring to a specific physical book.

Very roughly:

• tiểu thuyết này = this novel
• cuốn tiểu thuyết này = this novel / this copy of the novel

The sentence follows the common Vietnamese pattern:

• Subject + Verb + Object

So:

• Tôi = subject
• chọn = verb
• tiểu thuyết này = object

That makes the structure very similar to English:

• I choose this novel

Sometimes yes, but only when the subject is already clear from context.

Vietnamese often drops pronouns when the listener already knows who is being talked about. For example, in conversation, someone might simply say:

• Chọn tiểu thuyết này.

Depending on context, that could mean:

• I choose this novel
• Choose this novel
• or something else

So in an isolated sentence, keeping tôi makes the meaning clear.

This word can be tricky for English speakers because it has multiple vowels and tones.

A rough breakdown:

• tiểu: sounds somewhat like tee-uh said quickly, with the hỏi tone
• thuyết: starts with th, then a vowel like uê/yê, and ends with t, with the sắc tone

A few important points:

• th in Vietnamese is an aspirated sound, not the English th in think
• final t is unreleased or very light
• the tones matter a lot for sounding natural

If you are practicing carefully, it helps to learn the syllables separately:

• tiểu
• thuyết

Then combine them smoothly.

These are all demonstratives, but they indicate different distances or viewpoints.

• này = this (near the speaker)
• đó = that (often near the listener or already mentioned)
• kia = that over there (farther away)

So:

• tiểu thuyết này = this novel
• tiểu thuyết đó = that novel
• tiểu thuyết kia = that novel over there

In your sentence, này shows that the novel is close to the speaker, physically or conceptually.

Yes, it is understandable and correct. However, in everyday speech, many speakers would more naturally say:

• Tôi chọn cuốn tiểu thuyết này.

because books often take the classifier cuốn or quyển.

So you can think of it like this:

• Tôi chọn tiểu thuyết này. = correct, clear
• Tôi chọn cuốn tiểu thuyết này. = often more natural in ordinary speech

By itself, tiểu thuyết can mean:

• novel as a countable item
• the novel genre in a broader context

But in tiểu thuyết này, the word này makes it clearly refer to one specific novel:

• this novel

So in this sentence, it is definitely a specific book, not the genre in general.