bao nhiêu

Vietnamese

Etymology

bao (“how”) +‎ nhiều (“many; much”). In compounds, bao triggers tonal shift of the following syllable to the ngang tone (A1), compare bao lăm (“how many”) (< lắm (“many”)) and the obsolete bao dai (“how long”) (< dài (“long”)).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓaːw˧˧ ɲiəw˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓaːw˧˧ ɲiw˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔɓaːw˧˧ ɲiw˧˧]

Pronoun

bao nhiêu

1. how many?
2. how much?

Usage notes

This phrase is for numbers above ten.

See also

• mấy