những

Plural Marker (Some of Many)

Level 1

Use những before a noun to mean 'some' or 'several' of a group.

How It Works

In Vietnamese, nouns don't change form to become plural. Instead, you add a word before the noun.

1. How to use it:
Place những directly before the noun, or before the classifier if the noun uses one.

  • những + người (people) = some people
  • những + con + mèo (cats) = some cats

2. Subset vs. Totality:
Những is used when you mean 'some' or 'certain ones'. If you want to talk about 'all' of a specific group, you use các instead.

3. Optional Plurals:
Remember that Vietnamese nouns can often be understood as plural from context alone. You only need to use những when you want to emphasize that you are talking about a specific plural subset (such as saying 'những cuốn sách này' for 'these books').

4. Spoken Alternative:
In casual, everyday speech, Vietnamese people frequently use mấy (a few / some) instead of những for small quantities.

Watch Out! When những is placed directly before a number, it acts as an intensifier meaning 'as many as' or 'a whopping' (e.g., những 5 bát cơm - a whopping 5 bowls of rice).

Examples (4)

  1. Tôi thích những quyển sách này.

    I like these books.

    Word by Word: I like some classifier book this.

    Used with a demonstrative ('này') to point out a specific subset of books.

  2. Tuần trước, chúng tôi đi thăm những thành phố lớn ở Việt Nam.

    Last week, we visited some big cities in Vietnam.

    Word by Word: Week before, we go visit some city big at Vietnam.

    Indicates they visited 'some' big cities, not all of them.

  3. Những người đó rất thân thiện.

    Those people are very friendly.

    Word by Word: Some person that very friendly.

    Singles out a specific group of people.

  4. Tôi muốn mua những quả táo kia.

    I want to buy those apples over there.

    Word by Word: I want buy some classifier apple that.

    Notice how 'những' is placed before the classifier 'quả'.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'những' with personal pronouns.

    Chào những bạn.
    Chào các bạn.

    You cannot use những to pluralize personal pronouns. To say 'you all' or 'friends', you must use các.

  • Overusing 'những' for general plural statements.

    Tôi thích những chó.
    Tôi thích chó.

    English requires an '-s' for plural nouns, but Vietnamese leaves nouns bare for general statements (like 'I like dogs'). Những is only used to single out a specific subset ('some dogs').

  • Using 'các người' to mean 'people'.

    Các người ở đây rất tốt.
    Những người ở đây rất tốt.

    Learners often try to use 'các người' to mean 'people', but this phrase is highly rude and aggressive (similar to shouting 'you lot!'). To neutrally say 'people', you must use những người.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

nhữngLevel 1Plural Marker (Some of Many)

Learn This First

To understand 'những', you first need to know that Vietnamese nouns don't change form for plurality. You should also be familiar with how classifiers work and how 'những' differs from the other common plural marker 'các'.

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