# Bao nhiêu: how many / how much? in Vietnamese (A1)

> Bao nhiêu asks how many or how much, with no guess about the size. The answer can be any number: forty students, a few hundred thousand for a shirt, two…

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/bao-nhieu-how-many/ · Updated 2026-11-09

**how many / how much?**

Pattern: `[verb] + bao nhiêu + (classifier) + [noun]? · [thing] + bao nhiêu (tiền)?`

Level: A1 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: bao nhieu

Situations: [Shops and services](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/?use=service)

*Bao nhiêu* asks how many or how much, with no guess about the size. The answer can be any number: forty students, a few hundred thousand for a shirt, two kilos of rice. It also works straight on things you don't count one by one, such as money, rice or sugar; *mấy* needs a unit there: *mấy ký gạo*, *mấy chục ngàn*.

It goes where the number will go in the answer: *Lớp em có bao nhiêu học sinh?* *Lớp em có bốn mươi học sinh.* A counting word can follow, as after a number, but with *bao nhiêu* it's often left out.

For prices, *bao nhiêu* or *bao nhiêu tiền* comes after the thing: *Cái áo này bao nhiêu?* At the market you'll also hear the price per unit: *Xoài bao nhiêu một ký?* In Hà Nội a kilo is a *cân*.

It's the polite way to ask an adult's age, too: *Anh bao nhiêu tuổi?* For a child's age, or any small number you expect, *mấy* is more natural.

Two questions look similar but ask other things. *Bao lâu* is how long: *Anh ở đây bao lâu?* *Bao giờ* is when, though in Saigon *khi nào* is more common.

## A common mistake

✗ Bao nhiêu người anh mời?

✓ Anh mời bao nhiêu người?

Like the other question words, *bao nhiêu* stays where the number goes in the answer: *mời ba mươi người*.

## Examples

- Cái áo này bao nhiêu tiền? — How much is this shirt?
- Saigon: Dạ, ba trăm ngàn. | Hà Nội: Dạ, ba trăm nghìn. — Three hundred thousand.
- Saigon: Xoài bao nhiêu một ký? | Hà Nội: Xoài bao nhiêu một cân? — How much is a kilo of mangoes?
- Lớp em có bao nhiêu học sinh? — How many students are there in your class?
- Anh mời bao nhiêu người? — How many people did you invite?

## Words in this pattern

- [bao nhiêu](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/bao-nhieu/#lx_bao_nhieu): how many

## Compare

- [How many (a small number): mấy before the noun](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/may-how-many/): how many (few)?
- [How long? bao lâu after the verb](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/bao-lau-how-long/): how long (duration)?
- [When? bao giờ / khi nào: first for the future, last for the past](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/bao-gio-when/): when?

Previous in Asking questions: [How many (a small number): mấy before the noun](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/may-how-many/)
Next in Asking questions: [How? What is it like? sao / thế nào](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/the-nao-how/)

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