Lesson 6: Modifying nouns with adjectives and verb phrases

Describing nouns: main idea first

When Vietnamese describes a thing, it names the thing first and then adds details. You hear what it is before you hear what it’s like or what it does. This logic stays the same whether the description is a single word or a whole action.

Descriptions come after the noun

Unlike English, adjectives follow the noun they describe.

xe đỏ
(a red car)

người cao
(a tall person)

The noun comes first. The description comes after.

Adjectives as modifiers

The same adjectives you’ve seen as full sentences (Trời lạnh, Cô ấy cao) can also sit after a noun and act as labels.

cà phê nóng
(hot coffee)

áo đẹp
(a beautiful shirt)

Actions as descriptions (no “who / which / that”)

Vietnamese doesn’t use words like who, which, or that. Instead, an entire verb phrase can follow a noun and describe it directly.

người ăn bánh mì
(the person eating bánh mì)

bạn học tiếng Việt
(the friend studying Vietnamese)

cửa hàng bán hoa
(the shop that sells flowers)

Stacking details

You can add more than one detail after a noun. Each word further narrows down what you mean. Noticing the flow: When multiple descriptions follow a noun, they usually flow from more general to more identifying details. There is no strict order you need to memorize — just notice how speakers naturally add information step by step.

xe đỏ cũ
(an old red car)

nhà nhỏ yên tĩnh
(a small, quiet house)

Everything comes after the noun.

Seeing the pattern in sentences

Tôi thích cà phê nóng.
(I like hot coffee.)

Cô ấy mua xe cũ.
(She bought a used car.)

Đây là người sống ở Hà Nội.
(This is the person who lives in Hanoi.)

Because there are no linking words, a noun followed by a verb can briefly look like a full sentence. With context, you’ll naturally notice when the verb is just giving extra information about the noun rather than starting a new idea.