“How much does this metro ticket cost?” in Vietnamese

When to use it

Use it at a metro station, for example in Ho Chi Minh City, to ask the fare.

The sentence in English (“How much does this metro ticket cost?”)

In “How much does this metro ticket cost?” ‘cost’ is a verb, so the question needs ‘does’, and ‘this’ precedes the noun.

How

adverbquestion word asking about the way or manner

much

adverb"how much" asks about price or quantity

does

auxiliary verbdo · tense: present · person: third · number: singular · auxiliary that makes the question

this

determinerdemonstrative determiner

metro

nounnoun; it says what kind of ticket

ticket

nounnoun

cost

verbcost · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · after "does" the verb stays in its base form

The sentence in Vietnamese (“Vé tàu điện ngầm này giá bao nhiêu?”)

In “Vé tàu điện ngầm này giá bao nhiêu?” no verb is needed: ‘giá bao nhiêu’ (price how much) follows the noun phrase. ‘này’ (this) comes after the noun, and ‘tàu điện ngầm’ is literally an underground electric train.

Vé

noun'ticket', heading the phrase

tàu

nounpart of tàu điện ngầm

điện

noun'electricity'; tàu điện = electric train

ngầm

adjective'underground'; tàu điện ngầm = metro

này

determiner'this', after the noun

giá

noun'price', used like 'cost'

bao

pronounin bao nhiêu 'how much'

nhiêu

pronounbao nhiêu at the end asks the amount

What changes from one language to the other (English × Vietnamese)

English needs ‘cost’ and ‘does’; Vietnamese only ‘giá bao nhiêu’, with ‘này’ after the noun.

Example conversation