Vietnamese Measure Words // What Are They & How To Use Them
Learn Vietnamese Measure Words // The Most Common
Today we plan to teach you the most commonly used Vietnamese measure words.
Even an advanced learner can find learning measure words confusing since there is a wide variety of them! However, that shouldn’t scare us because they are something you learn as you go.
We want to provide you with a complete guide to the most common and frequently used Vietnamese measure words.
Before starting with the Vietnamese measure words, we also wanted to share some other fascinating topics we’ve already written about which are proving really popular with our students!
- Best Apps To Learn Vietnamese // Six Apps to Add To Your Portfolio
- Vietnamese Names // What’s The Story? A Quick Guide
- 23 Colors in Vietnamese // Discover Their Meanings (+ Bonus Quiz)
Anyway, back to the topic on our minds today!
To make things easier, the measure words are divided into different categories, starting with some of the most common ones. Similarly to the Chinese measure words, some of them may appear in more than one category as they can be used for a variety of objects.
Vietnamese Measure Words | What is Measure Word?
Vietnamese Measure Words | Animals
Vietnamese Measure Words | Food
Vietnamese Measure Words | At The Office
Vietnamese Measure Words | Clothing and Accessories
Vietnamese Measure Words | Pairs, Collections & Groups
Vietnamese Measure Words | Mass and Weight
Vietnamese Measure Words | Date and Time
BONUS | The Most Common Vietnamese Measure Words
Vietnamese Measure Words | FAQ’s
What is a Measure Word?
In Vietnamese, measure words or classifiers are usually put in front of countable or uncountable nouns.
Think in English when you say:
- Two bowls of cereal
- Four cups of coffee
- A box of matches
This is exactly what measure words are! Simple, right?
In general with Vietnamese, they are categorised as measured nouns and are divided into two main groups:
- Classifiers
- Classifiers are used to measure an approximate number/amount of things, such as con, cái, miếng, etc.
- For instance, một con mèo (a cat); một cái chén (a bowl), hai miếng thịt (two slices of meat).
- Numerically measured nouns
- Numerically measured nouns are used to measure an appropriate number/amount of things, such as tấn, mét, tá, etc.
- For example, hai tấn gạo (two tons of rice); một mét vải (a mile of silk); một tá trứng (a dozen eggs).
Vietnamese Measure Words | Animals
First up we talk about animals.
You may notice that some of these measure words have been already covered in the most common measure words section.
Remember, you don’t have to remember the measure word for every section. Just think in English, what are a group of elephants or dolphins called?
Many actually struggle to answer this! (the answers are herd and pod by the way!)
| Vietnamese Measure Words | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Đàn | A big group of animals | Một đàn lợn = a group (drove) of pigs |
| Con | An animal | Hai con gà = two chickens |
| Chú | An animal, but that only appears in the children’s books, TV programs,… | Ba chú gấu = three bears |
Vietnamese Measure Words | Food
This is an essential category for anyone who wants to improve their restaurant ordering skills from a Vietnamese menu.
Note that there are differences between regions in Vietnam, but it’s not that hard thanks to our guide!
Measure Words for Dishes
- Bát/chén/tô = a bowl. Bát is used in the north of Vietnam whilst chén is used in the south. Tô is a big bowl
- Một chén cơm = a bowl of rice
- Một bát phở = a bowl of Pho
- Hai tô canh = two bowls of soup
- Đĩa/dĩa = plate. Đĩa is used in the north of Vietnam, whilst dĩa is used in the south.
- Một đĩa rau = a plate of vegetable
- Hai dĩa cơm tấm = two plates of broken rice
Here as there are more Vietnamese measure words related to food.
| Vietnamese Measure Words | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Cốc/ly | Cup – Cốc is used in the north – Ly is used in the south | – Một cốc nước = a cup of water – Hai ly nước ép = two cups of juice |
| Chén/tách | Teacups – Chén is used in the north – Tách is used in the south | – Một chén trà = a teacup – Hai tách cà phê = two cup of coffee |
Measure Words for Meat
The official measurement for meat, fruits, and vegetable are units such as kilograms and tonnes, just like in English.
Additionally, there are also measure words for approximate amount of foods such as:
| Vietnamese Measure Words | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Tảng | A large amount of meat | Một tảng thịt heo = a large piece of pork |
| Miếng | A small amount of meat | Một miếng thịt bò = a slice of beef |
| Mẩu/cục | A smaller amount of meat, a piece of meat | Những mẩu thịt = small pieces of meat |
Measure Words for Vegetables and Fruits
Similarly, vegetables are also measured using approximate units:
| Vietnamese Measure Words | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Mớ | A bunch (only used for vegetables) | Một mớ rau = a bunch of vegetables |
| Quả/trái | Used to measure fruit | Hai trái táo = two apples Ba quả cam = three oranges |
Quả/trái are also used for circular/globe shaped objects like balls.
Một trái bóng = a ball
6 Must-Try Vietnamese Street Food & Snacks // North vs South
Vietnamese Street Food has a lot of surprises we think you’ve never seen before! Today we introduce you 3 from the north and 3 from the south of Vietnam.
Vietnamese Measure Words | At the Office
If you are working in a Vietnamese office or with Vietnamese colleagues, don’t skip this part as we will provide you the most common Vietnamese measure words for the office.
Let’s go through all of them one by one.
- Quyển/cuốn: for objects that have sets of pages such as books and notebooks
- Một quyển sổ = a notebook
- Cái/chiếc: a general measure word for most objects
- Một cái máy in = a printer
- Tấm/tờ: for objects in sheet form such as papers, newspapers,…
- Ba tờ giấy = three pieces of paper
Vietnamese Measure Words | Clothing
What if you want to buy some clothes and accessories in the Vietnamese market?
This quick guide will make you sound more native when go to a local market.
- Chiếc/cái: the most widely used word to measure one single object
- Hai cái áo = two shirts
- Ba chiếc quần dài = three trousers
- Bộ: to measure a dress or an all in one piece, like a suit
- Bộ váy = a dress
- Bộ quần áo = a suit
- Đôi: a pair
- Đôi vớ= a pair of socks
- Đôi giày = a pair of shoes
You can also read our guide to learning the Vietnamese colours, so now you are able to choose your favourite clothes/accessories when going shopping:
Vietnamese Measure Words | Pairs & Groups
In Vietnamese, there are quite a few different measure words for pairs, collections and groups of people or objects.
- Cặp, đôi = a pair of
- Một cặp nhẫn = a pair of rings
- Ba đôi đũa = three pairs of chopsticks
- Bộ ba = a trio (three of)
- Bộ ba ca sĩ tài năng = A trio of talent singers
- Bộ ba chú gấu = A trio of bears
- Tá = a dozen of
- Một tá bút chì = a dozen of pencils
- Nhóm = a group of
- Một nhóm bạn trẻ = a group of young people
- Bó = a group of objects in stick form
- Một bó đũa = a bunch of chopsticks
- Một bó hoa = a bunch of flowers
Vietnamese Measure Words | Mass & Weight
This part will be especially helpful if you are learning to cook Vietnamese dishes, since the portion of ingredients can decide the taste of dishes.
- Tấn = a ton
- Tạ = a weight
- Yến = a stone
- Ki-lô-gam/cân = a kilogram
- Gam/lạng = a gram
Here are some Vietnamese measure words for distance also:
- Ki-lô-mét = kilometre
- Mét = metre
- Đề-xi-mét = decimetre
- Cen-ti-mét = centimetre
- Mi-li-mét = millimetre
Finally, some measure words for liquid:
- Lít = litre
- Mi-li-lít = millilitre
Vietnamese Measure Words | Date & Time
Like in English, there are separate words for measuring date and time such as…
The Date
- Năm = year
- Tháng = month
- Ngày = day
- Buổi = half a day
The Time
- Giờ = hour
- Phút = minute
- Giây = second
- Tích tắc = tick
BONUS | The Most Common Measure Words
There are hundreds of measure words in Vietnamese, however, don’t be worried, only some of them are used in daily conversation.
Here are the most common measure words you’ll hear day to day in Vietnam:
- Bài: for songs, drawings, poems, essays etc.
- Một bài hát = one song
- Ba bài thơ = three poems
- Câu: for verses, lyrics, quotes.
- Hai câu văn = two sentences
- Một câu trích dẫn = a quote
- Cây: for stick-like objects such as an umbrella or sticks.
- Một cây gậy = a stick
- Năm cây kẹo = five candy sticks
- Tờ: for sheets of paper or newspapers.
- Một tờ giấy trắng = one sheet of paper
- Một tờ báo = a newspaper
- Lá: for smaller sheets of paper such as letters, cards.
- Một lá bài = a card
If you made it this far, congratulations, you’ve officially mastered the measure words in Vietnamese!
So what did you think? Did you enjoy our guide?
Drop us a comment below if you have any questions or even requests for further articles or videos – we are always here!
You can even take your language learning further with us and start discovering the measure words in Mandarin here also.
Vietnamese Measure Words // FAQ’s
How do you say “a bunch” of something in Vietnamese?
If you wanted to say a bunch of vegetables for example, you’d say “Một mớ rau“.
Bunch is mớ but is generally only used for vegetables.
How do you say “a bowl” of something in Vietnamese?
This can actually vary depending on if you are based in the north or south of Vietnam.
Bát is used in the north of Vietnam whilst chén is used in the south. Tô is a big bowl.
Một chén cơm = a bowl of rice
Một bát phở = a bowl of Pho
Hai tô canh = two bowls of soup
What is a measure word?
In Vietnamese, measure words or classifiers are usually put in front of countable or uncountable nouns.
Think in English when you say:
Two bowls of cereal
Four cups of coffee
A box of matches
How do you say “a cup” of something in Vietnamese?
This will depend on where you are in Vietnam!
– Cốc is used in the north
– Ly is used in the south
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[…] you want to push your language skills even further, why not check out our guide to Vietnamese Measure Words as well – because learning more languages is just […]