Vietnamese language
Hi,

in vietnamese language, when do i use "co" ?

for example:

tôi 25 tuoi
nhung : gia dinh cua tôi co 5 nguoi.
(sorry, i don't put accents)

so, sometimes we put co and sometimes we don't put co

An other question: how can i improve my vietnamese language (in particular vocabulary)?
do you know good websites for it?

I would like to learn vietnamese by songs (do you some good songs not too difficult to understand because i miss vocabulary) maybe children's songs

thanks for your help

Question

Vietnamese language
Hi,

in vietnamese language, when do i use "co" ?

for example:

tôi 25 tuoi
nhung : gia dinh cua tôi co 5 nguoi.
(sorry, i don't put accents)

so, sometimes we put co and sometimes we don't put co

An other question: how can i improve my vietnamese language (in particular vocabulary)?
do you know good websites for it?

I would like to learn vietnamese by songs (do you some good songs not too difficult to understand because i miss vocabulary) maybe children's songs

thanks for your help

Answer

Use "có" for
1/ có = to have
Ex: Gia đình tôi có 5 người (My family has 5 members)
      Tôi có một quyển sách tuyệt vời (I have a wonderful book)
2/ có = there is/ there are
Ex: Có rất nhiều học sinh trong lớp tôi thích tiếng Anh (there are many students in my class, who like English)
       Trong khu vườn kia có những bông hoa xinh đẹp (In that garden, there are beautiful flowers)
===============
Take a look at your example

1/ Tôi 25 tuổi = Tôi (thì/ là) 25 tuổi (I am 25 years old)
Note: In Vietnamese, when the structure "to be+ adj" is used, the verb "to be" is usually suppressed
Ex: Áo dài rất đẹp = Áo dài (thì/là) rất đẹp (Ao dai is beautiful)
      Cô ấy cao hơn tôi = Cô ấy (thì) cao hơn tôi (she is taller than me)
===================================

Songs are recommended: Trái đất này là của chúng mình (This Earth is ours), Bụi phấn, Bông hồng tặng cô, con cò bé bé, lớp chúng ta đoàn kết, tia nắng hạt mưa, 4 phương trời, chú voi con ở Bản Đôn, thầy cô cho em mùa xuân,....

Answer

I am a Vietnamese and I am living in Vietnam now. I just want to answer your question about good websites to learn Vietnamese. If you want to learn to speak Vietnamese, why don't you try signing up on this website:
http://easyvietnamese.com/en
There are a lot of conversational Vietnamese courses on this website. I think the Vocabulary Web on this website can help you improve your vocabulary size. Let's try enrolling for the free course to experience this vocabulary function. Good luck!

Answer

"có" = have = there are = there is

Answer

1) Answer for question 1:

The correct grammar is "Gia đình tôi có 5 người". However, in speaking, it is ok to say "Gia đình tôi 5 người".

2) Answer for question 2:

Just join this facebook group if you wanna learn and practice Vietnamese with Native Speaker for free. We teach you alphabet, spelling, writing, speaking, typing, culture. There are always online Vietnamese friends who speak English answer your questions 24/7, even via skype.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/560515247332783/

I am establishing the group and will post lessons soon. However, you can have tutors there right now.

Answer

it looks like "have/has" in english, but in this case it's diffierent:
I 've studied vietnamese for 5 năm (Tôi đã học tiếng việt được năm rồi)
total :"có" - it's meaning property (own, my , his, it's ....)