Expressing “several” with “mấy”

In Vietnamese, we use mấy to express “several”. It indicates a quantity of “about five, more or less, but less than ten”.

Structure

Place mấy before the measure word of a noun to express “several”.

mấy + measure word + noun

When the noun is understood from context, it’s acceptable to drop it.

mấy + measure word

If the noun doesn’t have a measure word, place mấy before the noun.

mấy + noun

Examples

  • mấy cái ghế
    several chairs
  • mấy cái
    several (instances of something)
  • mấy học sinh
    several students
  • mấy chục
    tens (of)
  • mấy trăm
    hundreds (of)
  • mấy trăm thành viên
    hundreds of members

Usage notes

The right word to express “tens (of)” is mấy chục, not mấy mươi.

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