CHAPTER 4. SOME SEMANTIC AND SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF
4.1. Linguistic features of adjective phrases in English and in Vietnamese
4.2.1. In terms of their syntactic functions
Similarities
In general, both English adjectives phrases and Vietnamese adjectives phrases can function as attribute and predicative. Let’s see the following examples:
Attribute
Do you see the mall green boat?
I know some very good restaurants Where are the really big bowls?
Anh ta trở nên chăm chỉ hơn khi có gia đình Cô ta trở nên nhân hậu hơn khi được làm mẹ Predicative
Her hair was dyed blonde
Her behavior was absolutely unbelievable The fire has made the room much warmer
We considered her behavior completely unacceptable This soup smells really wonderful
She thought the room was very strange Những ngôi nhà ấy rất tiện lợi và đẹp.
Cô ta thông minh.
Ngôi nhà đẹp quá Gỗ vẫn đẹp lắm
Another similar point, adjectives phrases can stand after copular verbs, such as be, seem, feel, sound, taste, etc. They would be illustrated as follows:
I felt sad
This soup smells really wonderful She thought the room was very strange
42 That coffee tastes too strong
Tôi cảm thấy hơi buồn
Món súp này có mùi rất tuyệt Cô nghĩ căn phòng rất lạ Cà phê đó có vị quá mạnh
Predicative adjectives can function as the following structure: S + V+ Aps. They would be illustrated as follows:
They are very happy when living together.
Họ trông rất hạnh phúc khi ở bên nhau
Differences
As mentioned above, both English and Vietnamese adjective phrases can function as attributive. However, there is a little difference between them.
Do you see the mall green boat?
I know some very good restaurants Where are the really big bowls?
In these examples, English adjective phrases precede noun and modifies for a noun when it functions as pre-modifier of noun
Anh ta trở nên chăm chỉ hơn khi có gia đình Cô ta trở nên nhân hậu hơn khi được làm mẹ
In these examples, Vietnamese adjective phrases occur after noun and modifies for a noun when it functions as post-modifier of noun
In general, functions of adjective phrases are changed from pre-modifiers in English to post-modifiers in Vietnamese.
A very beautiful beach (Một bãi biển rất đẹp) A very interesting book (một cuốn sách rất thú vị) A very famous star (một ngôi sao rất nổi tiếng) A very noble behavior (một hành vi rất cao quý)
Sometimes, adjective phrases function as post-modifiers in Vietnamese but as predicative, not pre-modifiers or post-modifiers in English. We can see the following examples to know clearer about English adjectives and their equivalents.
43 Chợ rất đông (the market is so crowded) Nhà rất gần (the house is very near)
Although both adjectives phrases can stand after copular verbs, such as be, seem, feel, sound, taste, etc. in Vietnamese, we can add or do not add “verbs” in the sentence.
I felt sad
This soup smells really wonderful She thought the room was very strange That coffee tastes too strong
Tôi hơi buồn
Món súp này rất tuyệt Căn phòng rất lạ Cà phê đó quá mạnh
Besides, there are a number of distinct syntax characteristics of each language
In Vietnamese, adjective phrases can function as the subject, they place at the first part of a sentence to identify the person or thing that owns the incident when adjective phrases functions as the subject. In English, Adjective phrases cannot function as the subject; they must be changed form as noun to perform as subject
For example:
Tốt gỗ hơn tốt nước sơn (Goodness is better than beauty)
Hấp tấp là nhược điểm của nhiều học sinh (Hurry is the defect of many students)
Chăm chỉ là đức tính tốt (Hard work is a good virtue)
In Vietnamese, Adjective phrases can be an adjective complement. An adjective phrase occurs before or after the adjective to add meaning to the adjective and contributes to form the adjective phrase when adjective phrases functions as a complement. However, the comparative form needs to be used to add meaning to that adjective / adverb in English.
For example:
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Hải Chi múa đẹp như diễn viên chuyên nghiệp (Hai Chi dances beautifully as a professional actor
Anh tôi hát hay như ca sĩ chuyên nghiệp (Hai Chi dances beautifully as a professional actor)
Lan đẹp như bà tiên (Lan is as beautiful as a fairy)
In Vietnamese, Adjective phrases can be the adjunct and is responsible for modifying the noun (noun phrase) and occurs after words it modifies. The adjunct could be a word, a phrase or a subject-predicate phrase when adjective phrases functions as the adjunct. In English, we need to use
“so...that” structure to express the meaning of the following sentence For example:
Bầu trời cao vời vợi và xanh thẳm làm cho không gian như mênh mang hơn.
The sky is so tall and so deep that it makes the space seem so vast.
Table 11: A contrastive analysis between English and Vietnamese adjectives phrases in terms of its syntax
Functions English adjectives phrases Vietnamese adjectives phrases
Pre-modifier of noun (attribute)
I know some very good restaurants It precedes noun and modifies for a noun
Anh ta trở nên chăm chỉ hơn khi có gia đình It precedes noun and modifies for a noun
Post-modifier of noun (predicative)
The fire has made the room much warmer It stands after noun to modifies for a noun
Ngọn lửa đã làm cho căn phòng ấm áp hơn nhiều
It stands after noun to modifies for a noun
Verb predicative I felt sad It stands after copular verbs, such as be, seem, feel, sound, taste to modifies for copular verbs
Tôi cảm thấy hơi buồn It stands after copular verbs, such as be, seem, feel, sound, taste
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*** In Vietnamese, we can add or do not add
“verbs” in the sentence. (I felt sad / Tôi hơi buồn The subject Adjective phrases cannot
function as the subject; they must be changed form as noun to perform as subject, for example: Hard work is a good virtue
Adjective phrases can place at the first part of a sentence to identify the person or thing that owns the incident when adjective phrases functions as the subject For example: Chăm chỉ là đức tính tốt
The complement The comparative form needs to be used to add meaning to that adjective / adverb in English, for example: Hai Chi dances beautifully as a professional actor
Adjective phrases can be an adjective complement.
An adjective phrase occurs before or after the adjective to add meaning to the adjective and contributes to form the adjective phrase when adjective phrases
functions as a
complement
Anh tôi hát hay như ca sĩ chuyên nghiệp
The adjunct We need to use “so...that”
structure to express the meaning of the following
Adjective phrases can be the adjunct and is responsible for modifying
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sentence. For example: The sky is so tall and so deep that it makes the space seem so vast.
the noun (noun phrase) and occurs after words it modifies. The adjunct could be a word, a phrase or a subject-predicate phrase when adjective phrases functions as the adjunct, for example: Bầu trời cao vời vợi và xanh thẳm làm cho không gian như mênh mang hơn