Đừng trộm tiền.

Đừng is used to tell someone not to do something. It is a common way to make a negative command or negative warning.

So:

• trộm tiền = steal money
• Đừng trộm tiền. = Don’t steal money.

A very simple pattern is:

• Đừng + verb

For example:

• Đừng nói. = Don’t speak.
• Đừng đi. = Don’t go.
• Đừng cười. = Don’t laugh.

Vietnamese often omits the subject when it is already clear from context, especially in commands.

In English, you usually need you only for emphasis, as in You, don’t do that. In Vietnamese, it is very normal to say just:

• Đừng trộm tiền.

If you want to include the person, you can add a pronoun or kinship term:

• Em đừng trộm tiền. = Don’t steal money.
• Con đừng trộm tiền. = Don’t steal money.
• Anh đừng trộm tiền. = Don’t steal money.

The exact word depends on who is speaking to whom.

Yes. In this sentence, trộm is being used as a verb meaning to steal.

However, learners should know that in everyday Vietnamese, people often say:

• ăn trộm = to steal / to commit theft

So Đừng trộm tiền is understandable, but Đừng ăn trộm tiền may sound more natural in many situations.

Also, trộm appears in other words related to theft, such as:

• kẻ trộm = thief
• trộm cắp = theft / stealing

Because Vietnamese normally uses verb + object word order, just like English in this kind of sentence.

So:

• trộm = steal
• tiền = money

Together:

• trộm tiền = steal money

This is similar to:

• ăn cơm = eat rice / eat a meal
• uống nước = drink water
• mua sách = buy books

Vietnamese does not use articles the same way English does. A noun like tiền can appear by itself and still sound complete.

So:

• tiền can mean money, the money, or some money, depending on context.

In Đừng trộm tiền, the meaning is general: Don’t steal money.

If you want to be more specific, Vietnamese can add other words:

• Đừng trộm số tiền đó. = Don’t steal that money.
• Đừng trộm tiền của tôi. = Don’t steal my money.

This is a very common question.

• đừng is used for negative commands: don’t do X
• không is usually used for negation: not / do not / does not

So:

• Đừng trộm tiền. = Don’t steal money.
• Tôi không trộm tiền. = I don’t steal money / I didn’t steal the money, depending on context.

You generally do not use không by itself to give this kind of command. For a command, đừng is the normal choice.

It is understandable, but many speakers would more naturally say:

• Đừng ăn trộm tiền.

That is because ăn trộm is a very common everyday expression for to steal.

Still, Đừng trộm tiền is grammatically easy to understand, and a learner may see similar short forms in some contexts. Just be aware that ăn trộm is often the more idiomatic choice.

A rough guide:

• Đừng sounds somewhat like dung but with the Vietnamese ư vowel, which does not exist exactly in English.
• trộm begins with tr, a sound that varies by region but is often somewhat like a retroflex ch/tr sound.
• tiền starts with ti that can sound a bit like ty or chee/jee depending on accent, but learners should listen to native audio rather than rely too much on English spelling.

Tones are very important here:

• đừng has a falling tone with a glottal quality
• trộm has a nặng tone
• tiền has a huyền tone

If your tones are wrong, native speakers may still guess your meaning from context, but accurate tones help a lot.

Yes. Vietnamese often adds words for emphasis. For example:

• Đừng có trộm tiền.
  This can sound more forceful, like Don’t you steal money or You’d better not steal money.

Another stronger warning might be:

• Đừng ăn trộm tiền nữa. = Don’t steal money anymore.
• Tuyệt đối đừng trộm tiền. = Absolutely do not steal money.

The basic sentence is fine, but Vietnamese often uses small extra words to change tone and force.

Not really in this exact form. Tiền specifically means money.

If you want a broader sentence like Don’t steal things, you would use another noun, for example:

• Đừng ăn trộm đồ. = Don’t steal things.
• Đừng ăn trộm của người khác. = Don’t steal other people’s belongings.

So Đừng trộm tiền is specifically about money, not stealing in general.