Họ không những hỏi điểm mạnh mà còn hỏi điểm yếu.

It means not only ... but also ....

In this sentence, it connects two parallel actions:

• không những hỏi điểm mạnh = not only ask/asked about strengths
• mà còn hỏi điểm yếu = but also ask/asked about weaknesses

It is a very common Vietnamese pattern for adding emphasis.

No. In không những, những is part of a fixed expression.

So here, không những should be learned as one chunk meaning not only. It is not functioning as a plural marker in this sentence.

In this structure, mà còn means but also.

Even though mà often has other uses in Vietnamese, here it is part of the paired pattern:

• không những ... mà còn ...
• không chỉ ... mà còn ...

So in this sentence, treat mà còn as one unit in the expression.

Vietnamese often repeats the verb in this kind of parallel structure for clarity and balance:

• hỏi điểm mạnh
• hỏi điểm yếu

That repetition sounds natural and makes the sentence symmetrical.

English often avoids repetition, but Vietnamese is more comfortable with it here. If you removed the second hỏi, the sentence would sound less complete.

Good question. Hỏi can often take its topic directly, so hỏi điểm mạnh is natural.

You can also say:

• hỏi về điểm mạnh
• hỏi về điểm yếu

Adding về makes the idea of about more explicit, but it is not required.

So both are possible:

• Họ không những hỏi điểm mạnh mà còn hỏi điểm yếu.
• Họ không những hỏi về điểm mạnh mà còn hỏi về điểm yếu.

The version without về is concise and natural.

Họ means they.

It is a third-person plural pronoun used for a group of people. In this sentence, it probably refers to some group already known from context, such as interviewers, examiners, or other people asking questions.

Unlike English, Vietnamese pronouns do not show gender here, so họ simply means they.

Literally:

• điểm mạnh = strong point
• điểm yếu = weak point

These are very common ways to say strengths and weaknesses, especially in contexts like interviews, evaluations, schoolwork, or personal development.

So if someone asks you điểm mạnh and điểm yếu, they are asking about what you are good at and what your limitations are.

Not by itself. Vietnamese verbs do not change form for tense the way English verbs do.

So hỏi can mean:

• ask
• asked
• are asking
• will ask

The time is usually understood from context or from time words such as:

• đã = past
• đang = ongoing
• sẽ = future

So this sentence could be translated as They not only asked about strengths but also asked about weaknesses, but that past meaning comes from context, not from the verb form itself.

Vietnamese often leaves possessive words out when the meaning is already obvious from context.

So điểm mạnh and điểm yếu here probably mean something like:

• your strengths and weaknesses
• the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses

If you want to be explicit, you can add a possessive phrase:

• điểm mạnh của tôi = my strengths
• điểm yếu của bạn = your weaknesses
• điểm mạnh và điểm yếu của ứng viên = the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses

But in many real situations, leaving it out sounds perfectly natural.

Yes. Không chỉ ... mà còn ... is very common and means the same thing as không những ... mà còn ....

So you could also say:

• Họ không chỉ hỏi điểm mạnh mà còn hỏi điểm yếu.

Both are correct. Không chỉ is often a little more common in everyday speech, but không những is also standard and natural.

The structure is connecting two verb phrases:

• hỏi điểm mạnh
• hỏi điểm yếu

So the sentence is not mainly contrasting nouns like strengths and weaknesses by themselves. It is contrasting two actions of the same subject:

• they asked about strengths
• they also asked about weaknesses

This is why the repeated hỏi is important: it shows that the two halves are parallel actions.