# Ngàn: hundreds to billions in Vietnamese (A1)

> Above 99, Vietnamese counts in hundreds, thousands, millions and billions: trăm (hundred), ngàn (thousand; in Hà Nội nghìn), triệu (million) and tỷ…

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/big-numbers/ · Updated 2026-11-09

**hundreds to billions**

Pattern: `[n] + trăm · [n] + ngàn / nghìn · [n] + triệu · [n] + tỷ`

Level: A1 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: ngan, nghin, trieu

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

Saigon: ngàn | Hà Nội: nghìn

Variants:

- hai trăm (= 200,000 đồng in prices)

Above 99, Vietnamese counts in hundreds, thousands, millions and billions: *trăm* (hundred), *ngàn* (thousand; in Hà Nội *nghìn*), *triệu* (million) and *tỷ* (billion). The number goes in front, as in English: *hai trăm* (200), *năm ngàn* (5,000), *ba triệu* (3,000,000). Say *một* for one: *một trăm*, *một ngàn*.

In everyday counting you build ten thousand and a hundred thousand: *mười ngàn* (10,000), *một trăm ngàn* (100,000). A long number is read in groups of three, biggest first: 2,350,000 is *hai triệu ba trăm năm mươi ngàn*. No *và* (and) goes inside: 120 is *một trăm hai mươi*.

Prices in *đồng* run into the thousands, so you'll use these every day. In shops the *ngàn* is often dropped when it's obvious: a coffee that costs *hai mươi lăm* is 25,000 *đồng*, and *hai trăm* on its own can mean 200,000. The last word is often dropped too: *một trăm hai* is 120 (in a price, 120,000), not 102, and *rưỡi* adds a half: *hai trăm rưỡi* (250,000).

When the tens are empty before a last digit, as in 105, you need *lẻ*: *một trăm lẻ năm*. Empty places have their own page. In writing, Vietnamese puts a dot between the thousands and a comma before decimals: 10.000 is ten thousand, and 2,5 is two and a half.

## A common mistake

✗ Cái áo này một trăm và hai mươi ngàn.

✓ Cái áo này một trăm hai mươi ngàn.

No *và* (and) goes inside a number: 120 is *một trăm hai mươi*.

## Examples

- Saigon: Ly cà phê này hai mươi lăm ngàn. | Hà Nội: Cốc cà phê này hai mươi lăm nghìn. — This coffee is 25,000 đồng.
- Trường em có tám trăm học sinh. — My school has 800 pupils.
- Tiền nhà một tháng sáu triệu. — The rent is six million a month.
- Sài Gòn có khoảng chín triệu người. — Saigon has about nine million people.
- Căn nhà đó giá năm tỷ. — That house costs five billion đồng.

## Words in this pattern

- [ngàn](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/ngan-thousand/#lx_ngan): thousand
- [nghìn](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/nghin-thousand/#s_nghin_thousand): thousand
- [triệu](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/trieu-million/#s_trieu_million): million

## Compare

- [Empty places in numbers: lẻ / linh, không trăm](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/linh-le-zero/): 'zero' tens and hundreds
- [Numbers 11–99: mười becomes mươi, năm becomes lăm, một becomes mốt](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/muoi-tens/): counting from 11 to 99

Previous in Things, counting and numbers: [All of them (plural): các](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/cac-plural/)
Next in Things, counting and numbers: [Brother, sister, son, daughter: trai / gái after the family word](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/trai-gai/)

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