những

See also: nhung, nhúng, and nhưng

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• (Northern Vietnam) dững
• (shorthand) ~, ≃

Etymology

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 仍 (“to continue; to be done repeatedly; many; still”, SV: nhưng). Compare nhưng.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ɲɨŋ˦ˀ˥]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ɲɨŋ˧˨]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ɲɨŋ˨˩˦]

• Audio (Hà Nội):

  (file)

Determiner

những • (仍, 忍)

1. Plural marker.

   tất cả những người khác ― all the others

Usage notes

• Những (“some; several [of the same category]”) has a slightly literary flavour, and is not used very often in colloquial speech, where mấy may be used instead.
• Generally speaking, những suggests that only certain of the total possible number are referred to, as opposed to các, which implies that all of a given set of entities are involved.
• Plural marking is not always grammatically required in Vietnamese, and may be omitted in many situations.

Derived terms

• những ai

Adverb

những

1. (archaic) only; just (followed by a verb)

Derived terms

• chẳng những
• không những
• những là
• những như
• những tưởng

Particle

những

1. Emphasizes the quantity of noun: as many as; as much as

   Bài kiểm tra rồi tớ được những tám điểm đấy!

   I got an EIGHT on the last exam!

2. (colloquial) Emphasizes the abundance and uncountability of something: nothing but

   những hoa là hoa ― nothing but flowers

3. (literary, otherwise rare) Emphasizes the overwhelming nature of a psychological or emotional state.