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Questions & Answers about Nhà cũ ở gần chợ.
Why does the adjective cũ come after nhà rather than before it like in English?
In Vietnamese, adjectives follow the noun they modify. So you say nhà cũ (house‐old) not cũ nhà. This noun–adjective order is one of the core differences from English.
Why don’t we need an article like the before “house” and “market”?
Vietnamese has no definite/indefinite articles. Context tells you whether something is specific or general. If you really need to mark “the old house,” you can add a demonstrative or classifier—e.g. ngôi nhà cũ or ngôi nhà cũ này—but it’s optional.
Could we use a classifier in this sentence? For example, ngôi or căn?
Yes. To be more specific you can say ngôi nhà cũ ở gần chợ or căn nhà cũ ở gần chợ. Ngôi and căn are classifiers for houses. In everyday speech, however, dropping the classifier is common.
What is the function of ở in this sentence? Doesn’t it mean “to live at”?
Here, ở functions like “to be located at.” Nhà cũ ở gần chợ literally means “The old house is located near the market.” It doesn’t imply someone lives there.
Can we drop ở and just say Nhà cũ gần chợ?
Yes. In informal or spoken Vietnamese, you can omit ở and still convey the same meaning: Nhà cũ gần chợ (The old house is near the market).
Why is it gần chợ rather than chợ gần?
Vietnamese prepositions come before their object. gần chợ (near the market) is correct; reversing it to chợ gần is ungrammatical.
Are there other ways to say “near” in Vietnamese?
Yes. You can use other prepositions or verbs:
• cạnh (next to): Nhà cũ cạnh chợ.
• gần với (near to): Nhà cũ gần với chợ.
• nằm (to lie): Nhà cũ nằm gần chợ.
How do I pronounce the tones in nhà, cũ, ở, gần, and chợ?
– nhà: ngang tone (flat)
– cũ: ngã tone (rising–falling, marked by a tilde)
– ở: hỏi tone (dipping–rising, marked by a hook above)
– gần: huyền tone (falling, marked by a grave accent)
– chợ: hỏi tone (dipping–rising)
Practice each tone carefully, since changing the tone changes the meaning.
How would I make this sentence negative?
Insert không (not) before ở or before gần if ở is dropped:
• Nhà cũ không ở gần chợ. (The old house is not near the market.)
• Nhà cũ không gần chợ.