# Bao nhiêu là: so many, loads of in Vietnamese (B2)

> Bao nhiêu là in front of a noun is an exclamation, not a question: Bao nhiêu là người! So many people!

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/bao-nhieu-la-so-many/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**so many, loads of**

Pattern: `bao nhiêu là + [noun]`

Level: B2 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: bao nhieu la

*Bao nhiêu là* in front of a noun is an exclamation, not a question: *Bao nhiêu là người!* So many people! It looks like *bao nhiêu* (how many), but the *là* changes it. Nobody expects an answer; you're reacting to a big amount.

It goes where the noun would go, after *có* or a verb, or at the start of the sentence: *Mẹ nấu bao nhiêu là món*, Mum cooked so many dishes. It works for things you can count and things you can't: *bao nhiêu là việc* (so much to do), *bao nhiêu là tiền* (so much money). The voice falls at the end, and in writing it ends with an exclamation mark or a full stop, never a question mark.

It's spoken and warm, and you'll also meet it in stories and songs. In Saigon you'll often hear *quá trời* instead: *quá trời người* or *đông người quá trời*, both meaning "so many people". In plain writing, *rất nhiều* is the neutral choice.

To actually ask how many, use *bao nhiêu* without *là*: *Chợ có bao nhiêu người?*

## Examples

- Hôm nay chợ đông ghê, bao nhiêu là người! — The market's packed today, so many people!
- Mẹ nấu bao nhiêu là món, ăn sao hết? — Mum cooked so many dishes, how will we ever finish them?
- Tết này em được lì xì bao nhiêu là tiền. — I got so much lucky money this Tết.
- Còn có một tuần mà bao nhiêu là việc chưa làm. — Only a week left and so much still to do.

## Compare

- [How many, how much: bao nhiêu](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/bao-nhieu-how-many/): how many / how much?

Previous in Things, counting and numbers: [Emotional cái in front of a noun](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/cai-emphatic/)
Next in Things, counting and numbers: [The beautiful, the good: cái + adjective](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/cai-nominal/)

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