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Borrowed from Chinese空(“empty, nothing, none”). This is now the main negator in Vietnamese and, in formal writing, virtually the only negator; however, see the list of other negators at the end of the entry.
The grammaticalization of không into a negative particle began in the 17th century and coincided with the numerous arrivals of Western businessmen in Vietnam. Because the quantifier "zero" is often used in the context of business, a relationship between "zero" and the verbal particle không was established. The development from "empty, vacant" into the numeral "zero" can also been seen in many Southern Min varieties, such as Hokkien空(khòng), Teochew空(kang3), Hainanese空, as well as Korean공(gong).
In the beginning of the 20th century, không replaced the original chief negator chẳng of native Vietnamese origin, coinciding with the establishment of French colonial rule over Vietnam.
at or near the end of a question, makes it a yes-no question
Có ai ở nhà không (ạ) ?
Anybody home?
Đúng không ?
Is that true?
Mày chưa làm phải không ?
You haven't done anything, have you?
Usage notes
The interrogative expression có … không forms in most cases a yes-no question and encircles the verbal or adjectivalpredicate. Có is placed in front of the verb or adjective, and không comes at the end of the sentence. Such questions are "open" questions in the sense that there is no expectation of the behalf of the speaker that the answer will be "yes" or "no". The word order is: subject + có + predicate + không? In informal communication, có can be omitted. Such yes-no questions regularly permit the use of the repetition of có as an affirmative answer form.
The interrogative expression có phải … không also forms a yes-no question and encircles the nominal predicate and the predicate expressed by của, creating a yes-no question that tends to expect an affirmative answer. When encircling the nominal predicate, the equative (or linking) verb là is used. When encircling the predicate expressed by của, then là is optional.
Các bạn anh có phảilàsinh viênkhông? ― Are your friends students?
Cái máy vi tính này có phải (là) của bạn anh không? ― Does this computer belong to your friend?
For an affirmative response to a có phải … không question, vâng is used at the beginning of the response. The negative reply may begin with either không or không phải.