# Những: plural, a subset in Vietnamese (A1)

> Những also makes a noun plural, but it picks out some members of a group, usually ones you go on to describe: những người bạn tốt (good friends), những…

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/nhung-plural/ · Updated 2026-11-10

**plural, a subset**

Pattern: `những + (classifier) + [noun] (+ restricting words)`

Level: A1 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: nhung

*Những* also makes a noun plural, but it picks out some members of a group, usually ones you go on to describe: *những người bạn tốt* (good friends), *những ngày mưa* (rainy days), *những món em thích* (the dishes I like).

*Các* means all of a set you both know about: *các sinh viên* is the students, all of them. *Những* points to some of them, or to a kind: *những sinh viên giỏi* is the students who do well. That's why *những* so often comes with a describing word or a phrase after the noun.

A classifier can come between *những* and the noun, and *này* can end the phrase: *những cái áo này* (these shirts), *những người này* (these people). With *người*, use *những*: on its own, *các người* is an angry "you lot".

After a number, neither is used: *hai người bạn*. In relaxed Saigon speech, *mấy* often stands in for *những*: *mấy cái áo này*.

## A common mistake

✗ Các người này là ai?

✓ Những người này là ai?

With *người*, use *những*. *Các người* sounds like an angry "you lot".

## Examples

- Em có những người bạn rất tốt ở đây. — I have some really good friends here.
- Những ngày mưa, em ở nhà. — On rainy days, I stay home.
- Saigon: Những người này là ai vậy? | Hà Nội: Những người này là ai thế? — Who are these people?
- Đây là những món em thích. — These are the dishes I like.

## Words in this pattern

- [những](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/nhung-more-than-one/#s_nhung_more_than_one): more than one

## Compare

- [All of them (plural): các](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/cac-plural/): plural, the whole set
- [No những / các after a number, no plural word when the context shows it: ba con chó](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/bare-noun-plural/): no plural marking

Previous in Things, counting and numbers: [Numbers 11–99: mười becomes mươi, năm becomes lăm, một becomes mốt](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/muoi-tens/)
Next in Things, counting and numbers: [The full noun phrase: number + classifier + noun + adjective + này (hai cái áo đẹp này)](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/np-full-order/)

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