còn

Meanings of Vietnamese "còn"

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còn has multiple grammatical meanings.

The first sense of the word is: "still", "left", "remaining". Like so:

ví dụ / example
– followed by object nouns
🇻🇳 Em còn 5 trái táo.
🇺🇸 I have 5 apples left.
❗️ Notice the verb "có" (have) is optional. "Em còn có 5 trái táo" is the full version.

🇻🇳 5 lấy 3 còn 2.
🇺🇸 5 take 3 leaves 2.

– followed by a verb
🇻🇳 Anh ấy còn nhớ cổ.
🇺🇸 He still misses her.

– followed by "đang" and a verb (present continuous)
🇻🇳 Cô ấy còn đang chuẩn bị.
🇺🇸 She is still preparing.

– or preceded or followed by other grammatical terms
🇻🇳 Cô ấy còn phải chuẩn bị nữa.
🇺🇸 She still has to also prepare.

🇻🇳 Cô ấy rồi còn phải chuẩn bị nữa.
🇺🇸 She then still has to also prepare.

🇻🇳 Cô ấy chắc còn phải chuẩn bị.
🇺🇸 Maybe she still has to prepare.

The second meaning is within "mà còn" which means "but also"

ví dụ / example
– followed by an adjective
🇻🇳 Mày tới trễ mà còn chậm.
🇺🇸 You're late and (yet) still slow.

🇻🇳 Nó giỏi mà còn dễ thương nữa
🇺🇸 (S)he is good but also cute.

The third: còn could mean "as for" or it could be the "-wise" as in "otherwise".

ví dụ / example
🇻🇳 Mình 24 tuổi. Còn bạn?
🇺🇸 I'm 24. What about you?

🇻🇳 Nếu còn sức thì đi. Còn không thì ở nhà.
🇺🇸 If you still have the energy, then let's go. Otherwise, (we) stay home.
❗️ Notice "còn" (first sense) is in the first sentence.

🇻🇳 Đứa nào nói cũng nghe. Còn Khôi nó lì lắm.
🇺🇸 Any kid I talk to, they listen. As for Khôi, he's very impudent.

You may notice that for the third meaning, "còn" is at the beginning of the clause/sentence.

You may notice that for the third meaning, you can augment the clause with "thì". From the two examples above: "còn bạn thì sao?" or "còn Khôi thì nó lì lắm".

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