# Noun + nào: which …? in Vietnamese (A1)

> Nào means "which", and it comes after the noun: Chị ở quận nào? Which district do you live in? Anh muốn cái áo nào? Which shirt do you want?

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/nao-which/ · Updated 2026-11-09

**which …?**

Pattern: `(classifier) + [noun] + nào?`

Level: A1 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: nao

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

*Nào* means "which", and it comes after the noun: *Chị ở quận nào?* Which district do you live in? *Anh muốn cái áo nào?* Which shirt do you want? Like other question words, it stands where the answer will go: *Chị ở quận Ba.*

Use *nào* when the answer is one from a set: these shirts, the districts of a city, the countries of the world. *Người nước nào?* asks which country someone is from. With time words it asks when: *Hôm nào anh rảnh?* Which day are you free?

Keep the counting word with *nào*: *cái nào?* asks "which one?" about things, *con nào?* about animals. The answer can drop the noun but keeps the counting word: *Cái này.* This one. *Cái màu đỏ.* The red one.

*Gì* after a noun usually asks what kind, open-ended: *Em thích màu gì?* What color do you like? *Nào* points at choosing one: *Em lấy màu nào?* Which color will you take? Often both sound fine.

At the end of a request, *nào* isn't a question: it means "come on" or "let's": *Đi nào!* Let's go!

## A common mistake

✗ Anh muốn nào áo?

✓ Anh muốn cái áo nào?

English puts "which" before the noun. In Vietnamese *nào* comes after it: *cái áo nào*, which shirt.

## Examples

- Anh muốn cái nào? — Which one do you want?
- Cho anh cái màu đỏ. — The red one, please.
- Chị ở quận nào? — Which district do you live in?
- Hôm nào anh rảnh? — Which day are you free?

## Compare

- [What kind of? noun + gì](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/n-gi-what-kind/): what kind of …?
- [What? gì after the verb](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/gi-what/): what?

Previous in Asking questions: [Which number: mấy after the noun](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/may-which-number/)
Next in Asking questions: [Who? ai as subject or object](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/ai-who/)

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