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Questions & Answers about Hôm nay trời đẹp.
What is the word-for-word translation of Hôm nay trời đẹp?
- Hôm: “day” (archaic, survives in compounds)
- nay: “this” (in time context)
- Hôm nay: “today”
- trời: “sky” (by extension “weather”)
- đẹp: “beautiful,” “nice”
Word-for-word: today sky beautiful.
Why is there no là used between trời and đẹp?
In Vietnamese, adjectives function like stative verbs and directly follow the subject. A linking verb such as là is only required when the predicate is a noun or pronoun (e.g. Anh ấy là bác sĩ). With adjectives you simply say Subject + Adjective.
What part of speech is Hôm nay?
Hôm nay is a time-adverbial phrase. Though hôm alone is a noun (“day”) and nay is a temporal adverb (“this”), together they function as an adverb meaning “today,” typically placed at the beginning of a sentence.
Why does the adjective đẹp come after the noun trời?
Vietnamese uses the pattern Noun + Adjective for both attributive and predicative structures. You wouldn’t say đẹp trời; instead the adjective đẹp follows its noun trời.
What does trời literally mean, and how does it come to mean “weather”?
Literally, trời means “sky.” By metonymy it refers to atmospheric conditions—sunny, rainy, windy, etc. So Trời mưa is “It’s raining” (literally “sky rains”), and Trời đẹp is “The weather is nice.”
Can thời tiết replace trời, and how would the sentence change?
Yes. Thời tiết is the formal term for “weather.” You can say Hôm nay thời tiết đẹp for “Today the weather is nice.” It’s perfectly correct but slightly more formal than Hôm nay trời đẹp.
What is the difference between nay and này?
- nay (no accent): adverb meaning “today,” pronounced in the level tone (ngang).
- này (grave accent on a): demonstrative meaning “this,” pronounced in the falling tone (huyền).
They look similar in Roman letters but are different words and tones.
Can I drop Hôm nay and just say Trời đẹp? Does it still make sense?
Yes. Trời đẹp alone is a complete sentence meaning “The weather is nice.” You lose the explicit “today,” but in context it’s perfectly natural to shorten it.
How do you pronounce Hôm nay trời đẹp, and what are the tones on each word?
- Hôm (huyền tone, falling) ≈ “hohm” (low-falling)
- nay (ngang tone, level) ≈ “nai” (level)
- trời (huyền tone, falling) ≈ “chuh-ee” (low-falling)
- đẹp (nặng tone, glottal-checked) ≈ “dep” (short, low with a glottal stop)
Put together with natural pauses: /hohm nai chuh-ee dep/.