Món này có ớt.

Món means a dish, food item, or course. In món này, it refers to this dish.

It is very common in Vietnamese to use món when talking about prepared food, especially in restaurants or when discussing dishes in general.

• món này = this dish
• món đó = that dish

In Vietnamese, demonstratives like this and that usually come after the noun.

So:

• món này = this dish
• món đó = that dish
• món kia = that dish over there

This is the normal Vietnamese word order, even though English does it the other way around.

Có often means to have, but in this sentence it is best understood as contains or has in it.

So Món này có ớt literally means:

• This dish has chili
• or more naturally, This dish contains chili

Vietnamese often uses có in this simple way to say that something includes an ingredient.

Ớt means chili pepper.

So the sentence specifically says the dish has chili in it. That often suggests the dish may be spicy, but it does not literally say This dish is spicy.

If you want to say This dish is spicy, you would usually say:

• Món này cay.

So the difference is:

• có ớt = has chili
• cay = spicy

Not always.

It tells you that the dish contains chili, but the actual level of spiciness can vary. A dish might have only a little chili, or the chili might not make it very hot.

So:

• Món này có ớt. = This dish contains chili.
• Món này cay. = This dish is spicy.

In real life, though, people often treat có ớt as a warning that the food may be spicy.

Vietnamese often does not need a verb like is in the same way English does.

In Món này có ớt, the main verb is có = has/contains, so there is no need for is.

Vietnamese sentences are often more compact than English ones. You should not expect a separate word corresponding to is in every sentence.

Yes, but the meaning is slightly broader.

• Món này có ớt = This dish has chili.
• Cái này có ớt = This thing/this one has chili.

For food, món này is more natural and specific because it clearly refers to a dish.
Cái này is more general and can refer to many kinds of things, not just food.

A very common way is to add không at the end:

• Món này có ớt không? = Does this dish have chili?

This is one of the most basic Vietnamese yes/no question patterns:

• statement: Món này có ớt.
• question: Món này có ớt không?

You can put không before có:

• Món này không có ớt. = This dish does not have chili.

This pattern is very common:

• có = have
• không có = do not have

Each syllable has its own tone:

• món — rising tone
• này — low falling tone
• có — rising tone
• ớt — rising tone, with a short, clipped ending because it ends in t

A learner should especially notice:

• Vietnamese is syllable-based, so pronounce each part clearly: món / này / có / ớt
• ớt ends abruptly; do not stretch it out like an English word
• the tones matter, because changing the tone can change the word

If your tones are not perfect yet, clear syllable separation will still help a lot.