Cây này có sâu bệnh.

this

Breakdown of Cây này có sâu bệnh.

• có: to have
• cây: the plant or tree
• sâu bệnh: pests and plant disease

Questions & Answers about Cây này có sâu bệnh.

What does each word in Cây này có sâu bệnh mean?

A natural word-by-word breakdown is:

• cây = tree, plant
• này = this
• có = have / has / there is
• sâu bệnh = pests and diseases, or pest/disease problems

So the sentence literally looks like This plant has pests/diseases.

In real use, it often means the plant is affected by pest or disease problems.

Why is này after cây instead of before it?

In Vietnamese, demonstratives like này usually come after the noun.

So:

• cây này = this plant / this tree
• nhà này = this house
• người này = this person

This is different from English, where this comes before the noun.

What does có mean here?

Here, có means has.

So:

• Cây này có sâu bệnh = This plant has pest/disease problems.

Vietnamese often uses có in a very broad way to express possession or the presence of something.

Depending on context, có can mean:

• have
• there is / there are
• sometimes more generally contain / possess / show

In this sentence, has is the most natural way to understand it.

Is one word or two words?