Couples and pairs of people: hai vợ chồng, hai anh em

To talk about two people as a pair, put hai (two) before the word for their relationship: hai vợ chồng (husband and wife), hai mẹ con (mother and child), hai anh em (an older brother and a younger sibling), hai chị em (an older sister and a younger sibling).

Add a name or a person word after it to say whose pair it is: hai vợ chồng anh Minh (Minh and his wife), hai mẹ con chị Lan (Lan and her child). With yourself in it, hai vợ chồng tôi is "my wife and I" or "my husband and I". There's no và (and), and the hai is often dropped: vợ chồng tôi.

With more people, change the number: ba anh em (three siblings).

The pairs have a fixed order and don't swap: vợ chồng, anh em, chị em, mẹ con, ba mẹ (in Hà Nội bố mẹ), ông bà. The older person usually comes first; vợ chồng, with the wife first, is simply how it's said.