Sentence Structure

English is, as we know, a Subject-Verb-Object language, rather unlike Persian, which is Subject-Object-Verb. Vietnamese is, like Persian, usually Subject-Object-Verb.

Ban taen gi?
You name what?
Subject-Object-Verb

However, it gets a bit strange after that. Note the sentence below, which is Subject-Verb-Object instead, rather like English.

Toi noi du-doc (ti-eng Ang).
I speak can English.
Subject-Verb-Verb-Object.

And an especially strange sentence she gave me. I needed to work it out in my head a bit to get it.

Du-doc fep chay ki den xhan.
Have right drive when light green.
Verb-Object-Object-Adverb-Object-Adjective.

You have the right to drive when the light is green.

You may also add "kong?" to the end of the sentence, it becomes a question of whether you can or not, confusing the syntax further.

Moving on to negatives, we start with a simple sentence, with the same structure as the first one presented.

Toy sahng oh Sai-gon.
I live at Saigon.

The negative form of this sentence (I don't live in Saigon) would be:

Toi kong sahng oh Sai-gon.
I not live at Saigon.
Subject-Adverb-Verb-Prep-Object

Almost exactly how it would be said in English, in terms of syntax. The interrogative form (of a second person version) demonstrates a bit of a difference.

Ban sang o Sai-gon fy kong?
You live at Saigon should not?
Subject-Verb-Prep-Object-Verb-Verb?

Though a little peculiar to an English speaker, this is asking whether or not the person being spoken to lives in Saigon.

Though initially similar, Vietnamese syntax confuses me with some of the twists it takes, and my partner was unable to explain the difference why herself. I can imagine any number of syntactic mistakes an English person might make in Vietnamese, though my partner suggests that the person should still be comprehensible, though native speakers might be amused at how odd it sounds. From Vietnamese to English, I can see a few obvious examples; asking if I 'live in Mission Viejo should not?' would certainly sound odd, but, on the other hand, 'You live in Mission Viejo, no?' would be used by native English speakers. Asking 'have right drive when light green, no?' might require a few reiterations to get the point across.