Vietnamese numbers and money phrases

Vietnamese numbers 0–10, the thousands shorthand vendors use, and the money phrases for paying, asking how much, and saying 'no change' politely.

Published 2026-05-21· 4 min read· Vietnam Knowledge

Last reviewed: 21 May 2026Report outdated info

Vietnam runs on cash in 100,000-đồng notes. Knowing the numbers and the way Vietnamese vendors abbreviate large amounts saves a lot of finger-pointing.

0 to 10

Number	Vietnamese	Romanised
0	không	khong
1	một	mot
2	hai	hai
3	ba	bah
4	bốn	bone
5	năm	nahm
6	sáu	sau
7	bảy	bay
8	tám	tahm
9	chín	chin
10	mười	muoy

11 to 100

Vietnamese builds compound numbers logically:

11 = mười một (muoy mot — "ten one")
15 = mười lăm (muoy lam — "ten five", with năm shifting to lăm)
20 = hai mươi (hai muoy — "two-ten")
21 = hai mươi mốt (hai muoy mot — "two-ten one", with một shifting to mốt)
50 = năm mươi (nam muoy)
100 = một trăm (mot chum)

Notes:

Năm (five) → lăm in 15, 25, 35, etc.
Một (one) → mốt in 21, 31, etc.
Bốn (four) → tư in 24, 34, etc.

Thousands, millions, billions

Vietnamese	Number	Note
Nghìn / ngàn	1,000	nghìn in north, ngàn in south
Mười nghìn	10,000	"ten thousand"
Một trăm nghìn	100,000	"one hundred thousand"
Một triệu	1,000,000	"one million"
Một tỷ	1,000,000,000	"one billion"

Vietnamese vendors often drop the nghìn when quoting prices. A coffee at 30,000 VND becomes "ba mươi" (thirty). A motorbike rental at 200,000 VND becomes "hai trăm" (two hundred). A homestay at 800,000 VND becomes "tám trăm" (eight hundred).

You learn to mentally append "thousand" to everything.

You hear	They mean (VND)	USD approx
Mười	10,000	$0.40
Hai mươi	20,000	$0.80
Năm mươi	50,000	$2
Một trăm	100,000	$4
Hai trăm	200,000	$8
Năm trăm	500,000	$20
Một triệu	1,000,000	$40
Hai triệu rưỡi	2,500,000	$100

Rưỡi = "and a half" — so "hai triệu rưỡi" = 2.5 million.

English	Vietnamese	Romanised
How much?	Bao nhiêu?	bow new
Total	Tổng cộng	tong kong
Cash	Tiền mặt	tee-en mat
Card	Thẻ	the
Change	Tiền thừa	tee-en thuh-uh
I'll pay cash	Tôi trả tiền mặt	toy cha tee-en mat
Receipt please	Cho tôi hóa đơn	cho toy hwa dun
Sorry, I don't have change	Xin lỗi, tôi không có tiền lẻ	sin loy, toy khong co tee-en leh
Can I have smaller notes?	Cho tôi tiền lẻ được không?	cho toy tee-en leh duhk khong

The "no change" reality

Vietnamese taxis, small stalls, and bia hơi vendors often genuinely lack small change. Carrying a mix of 10,000, 20,000, 50,000 and 100,000 notes reduces friction.

The phrase "Tôi không có tiền lẻ" (toy khong co tee-en leh) — "I don't have small notes" — is the polite way to ask the vendor to round up or supply change.

Counting people, things, and time

Vietnamese uses classifiers between a number and a noun:

Classifier	Used for	Example
cái	general object	một cái này — one of this
con	animal, vehicle	hai con cá — two fish
người	person	ba người — three people
bát / chén	bowl	một bát phở — one bowl of phở
dĩa / đĩa	plate	hai dĩa cơm — two plates of rice
cốc / ly	glass	một cốc bia — one glass of beer
chai	bottle	hai chai bia — two bottles of beer
suất	portion	một suất ăn — one serving

You can survive without classifiers; locals will figure it out. But adding cái (general purpose) is usually closer than just the number alone.

Common mistakes

Pronouncing "trăm" as "tram". The ă is a clipped "uh" sound, not "ah".
Saying "một trăm" for both 100 and 100,000. In conversation, the vendor knows you mean 100,000 — but for clarity, full-form: "một trăm nghìn".
Skipping the classifier. "Hai chè" (two desserts) is understandable; "hai bát chè" (two bowls of dessert) is clearer.
Counting with English numbers. Vietnamese vendors track Vietnamese numbers; saying "two-zero-zero" instead of "hai trăm" works but feels foreign.