In Vietnamese, cái is the most common measure word. It serves as the measure word for the majority of nouns.
Structure
As always, the measure word goes before the noun.
cái + noun
Examples
- cái hộpbox
- cái ghếchair
- cái tủ lạnhrefrigerator
Usage notes
The measure word cái also goes before some adjectives and verbs to form abstract nouns.
- cái đẹpbeauty
- cái nghèopoverty
- cái chếtdeath
- cái ăn cái mặcfood and clothes, basic necessities of life
If you forget or don’t know the correct measure word of a noun, you can use cái instead. It’s enough to get by but will sound unnatural, kind of meh, and it’s a tell-tale sign of non-native speakers.