Còn (Adv)

Situations

S1: Nam made an appointment with Lâm at 9 a.m. at his home. When Lâm arrived, Nam was sleeping.

Khi Lâm đến, Nam còn ngủ.
(When Lâm arrived, Nam was still asleep.)

S2: Nam tells Hà that Mrs. Mai is 50 years old, but Hà thinks that she looks as young as a 30-year-old woman. Hà says:

Bà Mai trông còn trẻ.
(Mrs. Mai still looks young.)

S3: Mrs. Mai has just opened a "phở" restaurant. After one month, there weren't many customers. She said hopefully:

Khách còn ít, có lẽ vì người ta chưa biết. Không sao!
(There are as yet very few customers. Maybe people don't know about it yet. It doesn't matter!)

Definition

Còn, as an adverb, placed before a verb / adjective expresses continuation of an action, a state or a quality (that is not finished yet, or does not come up to standard / does not meet the requirements).

  • Còn, vẫn, and cứ: Cf:
[1a] Đã 12 giờ đêm, anh ấy còn thức.
     (It's already midnight. He is still awake.)
[1b] Đã 12 giờ đêm, anh ấy vẫn thức.
     (It's already midnight. He is still awake.)
[1c] Đã 12 giờ đêm, anh ấy cứ thức.
     (It's already midnight. He keeps being awake.)

All three of these sentences express continuation of the state "awake" (thức), but they imply different meanings:

  • [1a] denotes only that he did not go to bed yet, that the state thức (awake) is in process and will end.
  • In [1b], the state thức (awake) continues although it is already late (he should have gone to bed).
  • In [1c], the state thức (awake) continues, and he is still awake without, for example, taking his doctor's advice.

Còn and vẫn can be interchangeably used. However, còn indicates the continuation of an action / state, whereas vẫn indicates the same state / action that is repeated despite a change in the circumstances. Cf. vẫn (p. 396), cứ (p. 102).

Combinations

  • còn (...) chưa / không ...
[1] Bà ấy còn chưa về.
    (She still hasn't returned.)
  • vẫn còn ...
[2] Tôi vẫn còn yêu cô ấy.
    (I still love her.)
  • còn (...) (thêm)... (nữa) (Thêm and nữa usually go together, but not necessarily.)
[3] (Anh chưa đi à?)
    Chưa, tôi còn ở đây thêm ba ngày nữa.
    (Didn't you go yet? - Not yet. I am still here for three more days.)
  • ngoài (...) còn ... / ngoài ra, còn ...
[4a] Ngoài uống bia, nó còn uống rượu (nữa).
     (Besides beer, he also drinks alcohol.)
[4b] Nó uống bia rất nhiều. Ngoài ra, nó còn uống rượu (nữa).
     (He drinks too much beer. Besides that, he also drinks alcohol.)