Leon Nguyen
Làm "tôi" hay là "mình" How do I use I in Vietnamese. Tôi biết "tôi, em, anh, chi, co, vv" ma khong biet lam "minh"" Ex: đi du lịch "một mình" hay là tôi đi du lịch
Sep 22, 2015 5:14 AM
Answers · 3
5
I see that foreigners often have this problem with using correct pronouns as well as subjects :) As you know, in English there's only one way to talk about yourself, it's "I" (or "me" or "myself", isn't it? But in Vietnamese, we have many ways. "Tôi" or "mình" is only one of them" You use "tôi" in a formal way to talk about yourself when you're talking to other people who are not close to you or in a formal occasion which needs to be solemn or serious such as a meeting, giving a speech,.. For example: A boss is talking to her employees "Tôi muốn các bạn làm xong bản báo cáo này trước chiều nay" (I hope you guys can finish this report by this evening) About "mình", you use it for those who you're close (and they're at your age of course) in an informal way For example: Lan speaks to Minh: "Mình muốn ăn kem" (I'd like to eat an ice cream) (Because Minh is her friend so she can use this word in this situation Or another example: You talk to your friends: "Chúng mình nên nộp bài sớm" (We'd better submit the assignment early" (here you can use "mình" to express yourself or a group of yourself and your friends as well) So finally, you should use "Tôi" to talk about yourself with audiences in a public place, if you use "mình", it will make you become impolite and weird perhaps :) And one more thing: "mình" and "một mình" are completely different. As Thuy said, "một mình" means alone (without anybody else) but it's not only to talk about yourself, it's also used to talk about anybody who is doing things alone. For example: Cô ấy ăn cơm một mình (She is eating alone) Mình làm bài tập một mình (I did homework by myself) But : Cô ấy và mình ăn tối với nhau (she and I are having dinner together) (here you're talking to your friend about your date with a girl) So you see, "mình" and "một mình" are different
September 22, 2015
You can say "đi du lịch một mình" but not clearly. You should say "Tôi đi du lịch một mình". You can also say "Tôi đi du lịch" when you want to say generally.
September 26, 2015
đi du lịch "một mình" = I travel alone (not with someone) tôi đi du lịch = I travel (maybe with your friend or someone.) " mình" use in 2 kind of situations: 1. the call when you have a conversation with your friend who is as same your old. "mình" is yourself. ex: can you lend me a book? = "bạn có thể cho mình mượn một quyển sách" = "bạn có thể cho tớ mượn quyển sách" = "anh có thể cho em mượn quyển sách" it depend on a person who is talking with you. ex2: Chúng "mình" = we = chúng tôi.: talk about a group of people who is as same as year old. Chúng mình sẽ làm nốt bài tập này. = we will do this exercise. 2. "mình" in words "một mình" = "alone" I travel lonely = tôi đi du lịch một mình I do all these works alone without helping from someone = tôi làm tất cả những công việc này một mình mà không có ai giúp đỡ.
September 22, 2015
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