Con chó này dữ.

This dog is fierce.

Breakdown of Con chó này dữ.

• này: this
• con chó: the dog
• dữ: fierce

Questions & Answers about Con chó này dữ.

What is con doing in con chó này?

Con is a classifier commonly used for animals.

So the phrase breaks down like this:

• con = animal classifier
• chó = dog
• này = this

Together, con chó này means this dog.

English does not use classifiers this way, so con often feels “extra” to English speakers, but in Vietnamese it is very natural. With animals, con is the normal classifier.

Why is này after the noun instead of before it?

In Vietnamese, words like this and that usually come after the noun phrase, not before it.

So:

• con chó này = this dog
• con chó đó / con chó kia = that dog

This is one of the biggest word-order differences from English.

Why is there no word for is in this sentence?

Vietnamese often does not use a verb like to be before an adjective.

So:

• Con chó này dữ. = This dog is fierce/aggressive.

Literally, it is closer to:

• This dog fierce.

This is completely normal in Vietnamese. Adjectives can act like the predicate of the sentence by themselves.

What exactly does dữ mean here?