JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, Hue University, Vol. 70, No 1 (2012) pp.

193-206

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE SYNTACTIC FEATURES

AND THE USES OF ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE NEGATIVE SENTENCES
IN LITERARY WORKS

Tran Van Phuoc1, To Thi Vinh2

1
College of Foreign Languages, Hue University
2
College of Foreign Languages, Danang University

Abstract. This study investigates the syntactic features and the uses of English and
Vietnamese negative sentences. This is a descriptive study executed in a contrastive
analysis with English chosen as the source language and Vietnamese as the target
language. First, we describe major syntactic features and the uses of negative
sentences in English and Vietnamese. Then, we draw out some similarities and
differences of the two languages in terms of their syntactic features and uses. Based
on these findings, implications about syntactic features and the uses of negative
sentences in English and Vietnamese have been proposed to the Vietnamese
learners of English for the purpose of understanding communicative significance of
negative sentences.

1. Statement of the problem

Vietnamese learners of English, especially learners at the levels of elementary
and pre-intermediate often produce some ill-formed sentences in expressing their
negative ideas in English as follows:
(1) Haven’t you written to Mary? [1, p. 346]
Yes. I haven’t. (to express agreement with previous utterance)
(2) I not agree.
(3) Never I can do that.
The ungrammatical sentences (1), (2) and (3) result from the transfer of the
Vietnamese patterns respectively:
(4) Bạn chưa viết thư cho Mary à?
Vâng. Tôi chưa viết.
(5) Tôi không đồng ý.
(6) Không bao giờ tôi có thể làm được như thế.

193
194 An investigation into the syntactic features and the uses of…

Sentences (1), (2) and (3) are ill-formed and certainly unacceptable in English,
whereas sentences (4), (5) and (6) are well-formed and highly acceptable in Vietnamese.
The syntactic errors in (1), (2) and (3) are the result of the interferences between the
learner’s mother tongue (i.e., Vietnamese) and English. Vietnamese learners of English
tend to apply the grammar rules of their mother tongue to build English negative
sentences. Take the following negative sentences in English and Vietnamese as
examples:
(7) A: So you are still living there? [2, p. 249]
B: No, I am not. I have rented a flat near the bank.
(8) A: Would you care for a drink? [2, p. 249]
B: No, thanks.
“No, I am not” in B7 is a denial of an assertiveness. In (8), B rejects to A’s offer.
So, “No” in B11 is a rejection. Also, in Vietnamese:
(9) Trên trời không một vì sao. [3, p. 303]
(10) Không phải anh này. [3, p. 303]
Two Vietnamese examples above use the negative marker “không” to form
negation but the difference is that in (9), “không” performs a descriptive negation but in
(10) it undertakes a denial.
Clearly, there is a wide variety of the syntactic features and the uses of negative
sentences both in English and Vietnamese which may cause difficulty to learners in
communication. This study was carried out to benefit Vietnamese learners of English in
their communication in relation to the use of negative sentences in English.
2. Scope of the study
The study primarily deals with syntactic features and the uses of English and
Vietnamese negative sentences that have a formal maker of negation called “nuclear
negatives”[8, p.180] as not, no, nobody/no one, nothing, nowhere, none, never,
neither/nor. They are typically không, chẳng, chưa, chả or the coordinators không
phải / không hề / không bao giờ , chẳng phải / chẳng hề / chẳng bao giờ, chưa phải
/ chưa hề/ chưa bao giờ, chả phải / chả hề / chả bao giờ in Vietnamese.
3. Methodology and data collection
The research is a descriptive study and involves comparative analysis. 1148
English negative sentences and 1162 negative sentences in Vietnamese are taken from
20 English and Vietnamese short stories and novels. Data randomly collected are
qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed on the basis of grammatical and pragmatic
theories.
 TRAN VAN PHUOC, TO THI VINH 195

4. Findings and discussion

4.1. Syntactic features of English and Vietnamese negative sentences (NSs)
Syntactically, we have found 15 models of negative structures with nuclear
negators no and not in English sentences together with 10 sub-models. In Vietnamese,
11 models of negative structures and 7 sub-models with không, chẳng, chả, chưa have
been found.
Table 4.1. Negative structures in English

MODELS ENGLISH NEGATIVE STRUCTURES

Structure E1: Predicate negation S (N/Pro./THERE) + AUX + NOT/N’T + V + O/C/A + (YET)
with NOT

Structure E1.1: Modal negation in S + MV + NOT + V (B.INF.) + O/C/A

English

Structure E1.2: Negation with BE S + BE + NOT + (V) + C/A

in English

Structure E1.3. Negation with S + DO/ DOES /DID + NOT + HAVE + O (AmE)
lexical HAVE in English
S + HAS NOT/ HAVE NOT (GOT) + O (BrE)

Structure E1.4. Negation with S + HAVE/HAS + NOT + V (PP)+ O/A

auxiliary HAVE in English
S + HAD + NOT + V (PP)+ O/A

S + HAVE/HAS+ NOT +BEEN+ V-ING + O/A

S + HAD+ NOT +BEEN+ V-ING + O/A

S + WILL HAVE + NOT + V (PP)+ O/A

S + WILL HAVE + NOT + BEEN + V-ING + O/A

Structure E1.5. Negation with S + DO/DOES/DID + NOT + V(B. INF.) + O/A

auxiliary DO in English

Structure E1.6. Negation with S + AUX + NOT + V + ANY+ NP/BODY/ONE/THING/WHERE

NOT...ANY in English

Structure E1.7. Negation with S + AUX + NOT + V + O/A, EITHER

NOT...EITHER in English

Structure E1.8. Negation with S + AUX + NOT + EVER + V + O/A

NOT...EVER in English

Structure E2. Subject negation with NOT+ S + AUX + V + O/A

NOT in English
196 An investigation into the syntactic features and the uses of…

Structure E3. Clausal negation with S + AUX + V. - ADV + NOT

NOT in English
S + AUX + V. - S + AUX + V + NOT

Structure E3.1. Clausal negation S + AUX + V. - ADV + NOT

with ADV+NOT in English

Structure E3.2. Clausal negation S + V + (S+P) + NOT

with V+NOT in English

Structure E4. Subject negation with NO + N/BODY/ ONE/THING + AUX + V + O/C/A

NO in English
NONE (OF +N)

NEITHER (OF +N)

Structure E5. Clausal negation with S + AUX + V . –

NO in English NO!/NOTHING!/NOBODY!/NOWHERE!/NONE!

S + AUX + V . NEITHER + AUX + S!

Structure E6. Object negation with S + AUX + V + NO+ N/BODY/THING + (A)

NO in English
NONE (OF+N/NP)

NEITHER (OF+ N/NP)

Structure E7. Complement negation S + AUX + BE + NO +N/GERUND/ADJ + (A)

with NO in English
NOBOBY/NOTHING

NONE (OF+N)

NEITHER (OF+N)/....NOR)

Structure E8. Adverbial negation S + AUX + BE /V + NOWHERE/ NO LONGER/NO MORE

with NO in English
S + NO LONGER + AUX + V + O/C/A

Structure E9. Negation with S + BE/AUX + NEVER + V + O/C/A

NEVER in English
S + NEVER + AUX + S + V + O/C/A

Structure E10. Yes-No questions AUX + N’T + S + V + O/C/A? (informal)

with NOT in English
AUX + S + NOT+ V+ O/C/A? (formal)

Structure E11. Yes-No questions AUX + S + V + NOBODY/NO ONE/NOTHING/NOWHERE +

with NO combinations in English C/A?

Structure E12. Negative Wh- WH- + AUX + N’T + S + V + O/C/A? (informal)

questions in English
WH- + AUX + S + NOT + V + O/C/A? (formal)

Structure E13. Tag questions in S + AUX + V , AUX + N’T +S?

 TRAN VAN PHUOC, TO THI VINH 197

English S + AUX + NOT + V, AUX + S?

Structure E14. Negative declarative S (Pro/N+ AUX + (NOT)+ V + (rising tone) ?

questions in English

Structure E15. Negative commands (PLEASE)+ DON’T + S (YOU) + V(B. INF.)

in English

Table 4.2. Negative structures in Vietnamese

MODELS VIETNAMESE NEGATIVE STRUCTURES

CN + (ĐÃ) + KHÔNG/CHẲNG/CHẢ/CHƯA + VT + TrN/BN

Structure V1. Predicate negation in (SẼ/SẮP)KHÔNG/CHẲNG/CHẢ/CHƯA THỂ/CẦN/DÁM

Vietnamese
KHÔNG/CHẲNG/CHẢ/CHƯA CÓ/CÒN

KHÔNG/CHẲNG/CHẢ/CHƯA BAO GIỜ

KHÔNG/CHẲNG/CHẢ/CHƯA LÀ

KHÔNG/CHẲNG/CHẢ/CHƯA PHẢI (LÀ)

Structure V1.1. Modal negation in CN + KHÔNG/CHẲNG/CHẢ/CHƯA + THỂ/CẦN/DÁM + ĐT +

Vietnamese TN/TrN

Structure V1.2. Negation with CN + KHÔNG/CHẲNG/CHẢ/CHƯA (LÀ /PHẢI LÀ) + VT + BN

không/chẳng/chả/chưa (là /phải là)

in Vietnamese

Structure V1.3. Negation with CN+ KHÔNG/CHẲNG/CHẢ/CHƯA CÓ + TN

“không/chẳng/chả/chưa có”in
CN ( ) + KHÔNG/CHẲNG/CHẢ/CHƯA CÓ + DT
Vietnamese

Structure V1.4. Verb negation in CN + KHÔNG/CHẲNG/CHẢ/CHƯA (PHẢI/HỀ) + ĐT +

Vietnamese TN/TrN

Structure V2. Subject negation in KHÔNG/CHẲNG/CHẢ/CHƯA (PHẢI/CÓ) + DT/AI/GÌ + VN +

Vietnamese (ĐÂU)

Structure V3.1. Clausal negation CN + VN . – TrN (LÀ) KHÔNG (CÓ/RỒI)!

with chắn chắc/tất nhiên/có lẽ (là)
không in Vietnamese

Structure V3.2. Clausal negation CN + ĐT + LÀ/THÌ +(CN+VN)+ KHÔNG

with hy vọng, nghĩ, tin là/thì không
in Vietnamese

Structure V4. Clausal negation in KHÔNG (CN + VN)!

198 An investigation into the syntactic features and the uses of…

Vietnamese

Structure V5. Adverbial negation in KHÔNG/CHẲNG + CÓ + NƠI NÀO/CHỖ NÀO + ĐỂ + ĐT

Vietnamese
CN + KHÔNG/CHẲNG CÒN (LÀ) + BN + NỮA

Structure V6. Negation with CN + KHÔNG/CHẲNG/CHƯA BAO GIỜ + ĐT + BN/TRN

không/chẳng/chưa bao giờ in
KHÔNG/CHẲNG/CHƯA BAO GIỜ + CN + VN
Vietnamese

Structure V7. Negative questions in CN + KHÔNG/CHẲNG/CHẢ/CHƯA+ ĐT+ BN/TN +TTT?

Vietnamese

Structure V8. Negative questions TĐH + CN + KHÔNG/CHƯA/CHẲNG + ĐT + TN/BN/TrN?

with sao/làm sao/vì sao... không in
Vietnamese

Structure V9. Negative questions CN+(ĐÃ/CÓ/LÀ) + (ĐT) + TN/BN + KHÔNG/CHƯA/PHẢI

with đã/có/là...không/chưa/phải KHÔNG?
không in Vietnamese

Structure V10. Negative declarative CN + VN?

questions in Vietnamese

Structure V11. Negative commands (XIN)+ (CN) + KHÔNG/ĐỪNG/CHỚ + ĐT + (BN)

in Vietnamese

Of the models in English and Vietnamese, negative statements take the highest
percentage (84.93%), negative commands the second place with 7.87% and negative
questions the third 7.20%. Not-negation takes the highest percentage with 43.81% in
which, the sentential negation of not is frequently used (40.79%) while the constituent
negation of not is less frequent (3.02%). Denying verbs (also called auxiliary negation)
account for the highest percentage in English NSs.
Table 4.3. Number and frequency of negative sentences in English

SYNTACTIC FEATURES Number Frequency

Total (cited from four short stories and two novels) 1194 100%
NEGATIVE STATEMENTS 1014 84.93%
NOT-negation 523 43.81%
Sentential negation 487 40.79%
Predicate negation (AUX+NOT+V) 482 39.95%
Modal negation 139 11.64%
( Modal verb+NOT+V)
 TRAN VAN PHUOC, TO THI VINH 199

Non-modal negation 343 28.73%

(BE, DO, HAVE+ NOT + V)
Subject negation (NOT+S) 0 0%
Clausal negation 5 0.32%
ADV+NOT 3 0.25%
V+NOT 2 0.17%
Constituent negation 36 3.02%
NO-negation 407 34.09%
Sentential negation 149 12.65%
NO/NOBODY/NOTHING(S) 69 5.78%
NO!/NOTHING! 82 6.87%
Constituent negation 256 21.44%
NO/NOBODY/NOONE/NOTHING(O) 190 15.91%
NO/NOBODY/ NOONE/NOTHING(C) 41 3.43%
NOWHERE(A) 4 0.34%
NO LONGER(A) 19 1.59%
NO MORE (A) 2 0.16%
NEVER 84 7.04%
NEGATIVE QUESTIONS 86 7.20%
Negative Yes-No question 20 1.67%
Negative Wh- question 18 1.49%
Negative Question Tags 33 2.76%
Negative declarative questions 15 1.26%
NEGATIVE COMMANDS 94 7.87%
Don’t + S +V 3 0.25%
Don’t +V 91 7.62%

Table 4.4. Number and frequency of negative sentences in Vietnamese

SYNTACTIC FEATURES Number Frequency

Total (cited from five short stories and a novel) 1162 100%
200 An investigation into the syntactic features and the uses of…

NEGATIVE STATEMENTS 1094 94.15%

KHÔNG 915 78.74%

Sentential negation 846 72.80%

KHÔNG + DT/ AI/ GÌ (CN) 31 2.67%

KHÔNG PHẢI(LÀ)/ BAO GIỜ + CN + VN 10 0.86%

KHÔNG (PHAỈ/PHẢI LÀ/BAO GIỜ/HỀ/CÓ/CÒN 782 67.29%

THỂ/CẦN/DÁM) + VN
KHÔNG! 23 1.98%

Constituent negation 69 5.94%

CHẲNG 135 11.62%

Sentential negation 115 9.90%

CHẲNG + DT/ AI/ GÌ (CN) 11 0.95%

CHẲNG PHẢI(LÀ)/ BAO GIỜ + CN + VN 6 0.52%
CHẲNG (PHAỈ/PHẢI LÀ/BAO GIỜ/HỀ/CÓ/CÒN 98 8.43%
THỂ/CẦN/DÁM) + VN

Constituent negation 20 1.72%

CHẢ
CN + CHẢ + ĐT + O 1 0.09%

CHƯA 43 3.70%

Sentential negation 35 3.01%

CHƯA + DT/ AI/ GÌ (CN) 0 0%

CHƯA PHẢI(LÀ)/ BAO GIỜ + CN + VN 10 0.86%
CHƯA + VN 25 2.15%

Constituent negation 8 0.69%

NEGATIVE QUESTIONS 48 4.13%

Yes-No questions 8 0.69%

Wh- questions 17 1.46%

Question tags 5 0.43%

Alternative questions 0 0%
 TRAN VAN PHUOC, TO THI VINH 201

Questions with rising tone 18 1.55%

NEGATIVE COMMANDS 20 1.72%

(XIN) + (CN) + ĐỪNG + ĐT + (BN) 17 1.46%
(CN) + KHÔNG + ĐT + (BN) + (TTT) 3 0.26%

4.2. The uses of english and vietnamese negative sentences in literary works
Negative sentences are used for the following purposes: providing description, making
denial, making rejection, confirming information, making affirmative statements,
undertaking directive speech acts or expressive speech acts. The occurrence of uses of
English and Vietnamese negative sentences is presented in Table 4.5 below.
Table 4.5. The occurrence of uses of English and Vietnamese NSs in total samples

English Vietnamese
Uses
Number % Number %
Total 1194 100% 1162 100%
Description 798 66.83% 992 85.37%
Denial 216 18.09% 102 8.78%
Rejection/refusal 1 0.08% 0 0%
Confirming information 42 3.52% 41 3.53%
Making affirmatives 9 0.75% 3 0.26%
Giving directives 112 9.38% 24 2.07%
Requests 12 1.01% 7 0.60%
Suggestions 35 2.92% 15 1.29%
Orders 47 3.94% 2 0.17%
Advice 3 0.25% 0 0%
Encouragements 15 1.26% 0 0%
Expressives 16 1.34% 0 0%
Surprise 1 0.08% 0 0%
Sympathy 6 0.50% 0 0%
Seeking for agreement 9 0.75% 0 0%
Table 4.5 above shows that in Vietnamese literary works, descriptive negative
202 An investigation into the syntactic features and the uses of…

sentences come out first with the highest percentage of 66.83% in English and 85.37%
in Vietnamese. Denial negative sentences take the second place with 18.09% and 8.78%
in English and Vietnamese respectively. Giving directives such as requests, suggestions,
orders, advice, or encouragement is in the third range in English with 9.38%. Negative
questions used to confirm information when the speakers are doubtful or uncertain take
the forth place with nearly the same percentage in English (3.52%) and Vietnamese
(3.53%). However, negative sentences with the uses of rejecting someone’s offer or
expressing the speaker’s feeling are less found both in English and Vietnamese.
Table 4.6. Summary of contexts, equivalent uses and NSs in English and Vietnamese

Negative structures
Contexts Uses
English Vietnamese
Describing Description S + AUX + NOT + V + O/C/A CN + TPĐ + ĐT + TN/TrN.

O (NO+NP/BODY/THING)+ AUX + V TPĐ + DT/AI/GÌ + VT

S+AUX+V+O(NO+
NP/BODY/THING)

S + BE + C (NO+ NP/BODY/THING)

S + AUX/BE + NEVER + V+ O/C/A

NEVER + AUX + S + V

Expressing Denial S + AUX + NOT + V + O/C/A CN + TPĐ + ĐT + TN/TrN.

opinion
O (NO+NP/BODY/THING)+ AUX + V TPĐ + DT/AI/GÌ + VT
/disagreement
S+AUX+V+O(NO+ KHÔNG (CN + VN)!
NP/BODY/THING)

S + BE + C (NO+ NP/BODY/THING)

S + AUX + V. NO (S+V)!

S + AUX/BE + NEVER + V+ O/C/A

NEVER + AUX + S + V

Offer / invitation Rejection S + AUX + V. NO(S+V)! KHÔNG (CN + VN)!

Expressing doubt Confirming AUX +N’T+ S+ V+ O/C/A ? (TĐH)+CN+TPĐ+VT+...

/ uncertainty information
AUX+S(NO+NP/BODY/THING)+V+ CN+VN, PHẢI KHÔNG
O/C/A /XONG CHƯA...?

WH-+ AUX+ N’T+ S+ V +O/C/A ?

S + AUX + V , AUX + N’T +S?

 TRAN VAN PHUOC, TO THI VINH 203

S + AUX + NOT + V, AUX + S?

S + AUX + NOT + V +( rising tone)?

Compliment Making AUX +N’T+ S+ V+ O/C/A ? TĐH(SAO/LÀMSAO/TẠI

affirmatives SAO)+CN+TPĐ
AUX+S(NO+NP/BODY/THING)+V+
+VT+TN/TrN?
O/C/A

WH-+ AUX+ N’T+ S+ V +O/C/A ?

Expressing Directives (PLEASE)+DON’T+(S) + V (XIN)+CN + TPĐ + ĐT +

concern BN

Expressing Expressives AUX +N’T+ S+ V+ O/C/A ? TĐH(SAO/LÀMSAO/TẠI

feelings SAO)+CN+TPĐ
WH-+ AUX+ N’T+ S+ V +O/C/A ?
+VT+TN/TrN?
(PLEASE)+DON’T+(S) + V
(XIN)+CN + TPĐ + ĐT +
BN

4.3. Similarities and differences of English and Vietnamese NSs in terms

of their syntactic feature (sfs) and uses
4.3.1. Similarities and differences of SFs in English and Vietnamese NSs
4.3.1. 1. Negative statements
a. Similarities
Negative statements appear more frequently than questions and commands in
literary works both in English and Vietnamese. Sentential negation is used more often
than constituent negation in both languages, English (58.66%) and Vietnamese (85.8%).
Some negative structures in English have the equivalent ones in Vietnamese, as
summarized in Table 4.7 below.
Table 4.7. Similarities of SFs in English and Vietnamese NSs

English structures Vietnamese equivalents

4.1. S+AUX+NOT+V+O/C/A 4.2. CN + TPĐ + VT

4.1.1. S+ MV + NOT + V+ O/C/A 4.2.1. CN+TPĐ+TTT+ĐT+TN/TrN

4.1.2. S + BE +NOT+(V)+ O/C/A 4.2.2. CN+TPĐ+(LÀ/PHẢI LÀ)+DT/TT

4.1.3. S+AUX+NOT+HAVE+O 4.2.3. CN+TPĐ+ CÓ+ TN

4.3. NOT+N+V+)+ O/C/A 4.4. TPĐ +DT/AI/GÌ + VN

4.17. NO+ N/INF.Pro +V 4.18. TPĐ +DT/AI/GÌ + VN

204 An investigation into the syntactic features and the uses of…

4.19. NO! NOTHING! 4.20. KHÔNG!

4.23. S+ AUX +NO LONGER+V 4.25. CN+TPĐ+ CÒN+VT+NỮA

4.26. S+BE/AUX +NEVER+V 4.27. CN+TPĐ+BAO GIỜ+ VT

WH- + AUX+S+V ?’ TĐH + CN + TPĐ + VT?

(PLEASE) DON’T + (S) + V (XIN) + (CN) + TPĐ + VT.

b. Differences
Some negative structures in English do not have the equivalent ones in
Vietnamese. English statements are in favour of object negation and this is highly
acceptable while in Vietnamese, it is not. There is inversion between the subject and
auxiliary when we put never at the beginning of the sentence. In Vietnamese, no
inversion is required when không/chẳng/chưa bao giờ is placed before the subject.
4.3.1.2. Negative questions
a. Similarities
Wh-questions and negative declarative questions are used most often among
four types of question in the two languages. Yes-No questions are less used. The
percentage of Yes-No questions is 1.66% and 0.69% in English and Vietnamese
respectively.
b. Differences
In the selected English literary works, negative questions occur more often than
in Vietnamese, taking 7.20%, while Vietnamese negative questions account for 4.13% in
the total of samples selected.
4.3.1.3. Negative commands
a. Similarities
In English, “Please” is inserted at the beginning or at the end to make the request
politer and softer. The same is found in Vietnamese negative sentences with the word
“xin”. However, “xin” is often placed at the beginning of the sentence, just before the
subject and added by some particles at the end to soften the request.
b. Differences
English negative commands have the tendency to use the structure without
subject (7.62%). The negative commands with subject are used more often in
Vietnamese. In Vietnamese, negative commands also acknowledge the position, gender
or the relationship of the speaker toward the listener expressed through the particles at
the end.
 TRAN VAN PHUOC, TO THI VINH 205

Cháu chịu đựng được, bác đừng ngại ạ,.. [4, p. 208]
4.3.2. The similarities and differences of English and Vietnamese NSs in terms of
uses
4.3.2.1. Similarities
Among samples taken from the literary works, descriptive negative sentences
are found most frequently in the both languages, taking the highest percentage in the
total samples taken.
4.3.2.2. Differences
When English negative sentences with not or no are translated into Vietnamese,
some more words as verbs or particles (nhé, ư, nữa,...) are used in Vietnamese sentences
to make their meaning clearer. Take some following samples for illustration.
(67) Yossarian tried to help him. "Don't be a dope" he had counselled
Clevinger. [5, p. 295]
This sentence performs an illocutionary act, it is a piece of advice. In
Vietnamese, the word “khuyên” is added to make the advice like this “Anh ta khuyên
Clevinger đừng thẫn thờ nữa”.
(68) You-you don’t love me?’, she said. [6, p. 33]
(Cô ta ngạc nhiên hỏi “Anh-anh không yêu tôi ư?”)
In this sentence, “ư” may be added for a Vietnamese equivalent.
5. Conclusion
Syntactically, we have found 15 negative structures with nuclear negators no and
not in English sentences under three types, English negative statements, negative
questions and negative commands. In Vietnamese, 11 negative structures with không,
chẳng, chả, chưa have been found. In both English and Vietnamese, sentential negation
is the most typical one. Questions and commands are less used in both languages.
English and Vietnamese have some equivalent negative structures as predicate negation,
subject negation, clausal negation and adverb negation. However, the negative
structures with object negation with no and complement negation with no in English
have no equivalent ones in Vietnamese. Therefore, when translating from an English
negative sentence with object or complement negation with no into Vietnamese one,
negative structures with predicate negation in Vietnamese are used. For example:
(69) She said nothing, only stared at him. [9, p. 15]
This sentence in Vietnamese must be interpreted as “Cô không nói gì, chỉ nhìn
hắn ta mà thôi”. In English, constituent negation as object negation or complement
negation with no is favourably used. In Vietnamese, however, sentential negation is
206 An investigation into the syntactic features and the uses of…

replaced in this case.

Pragmatically, we have found that instances of negative sentences can be used
for different purposes in communication and can be clarified depending on the contexts.
The main use of English and Vietnamese negative sentences is to describe the absence
or absence of something. In fact, description is used most often in English as well as in
Vietnamese with the highest percentage found in the NS samples. Other uses such as
denial, rejection, directives, expressives are less often used in literary works.

References
[1]. Downing, A. and Locke, P., A University Course in English Grammar, New York:
Prentice Hall International, 1992.
[2]. Pagano, A., Negatives in Written Text in Malcolm Coulthard (ed.), Advances in Written
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[3]. Swan, M., Practical English Usage, Oxford University Press, 1980.
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