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các

Level ≈A1 (approx.) determinernounverb Sino-Vietnamese Top 1,000 most common
Hanoi [kaːk̚˧˦]Huế [kaːk̚˦˧˥]Saigon [kaːk̚˦˥] browser voice
Syllables · tones
cácrisingsắc

Each syllable carries one of six tones; the mark on the vowel tells you which. How the six tones sound →

các means (plural marker): the, all.

Chinese characters: 各

Meanings of các in English

Determiner

  1. Plural marker ≈ những

Noun

  1. dated cell phone's card

Verb

  1. to pay the difference, to give in compensation

Words with các

các kiểuCác Thánhcác tôngcác-ten

Example sentences with các

  • Các cửa sổ đã bị bít lại. The windows were boarded up.
  • Tôi mừng cho tất cả các bạn. I'm happy for all of you.
  • Tất cả các cậu phản bội tôi. All of you betrayed me.
  • Các bạn đã mua bao nhiêu vé? How many tickets did you guys buy?
  • Các bạn có bao nhiêu cây vợt? How many rackets do you have?
  • Các cậu bé đang chơi bóng đá. The boys are playing soccer.
  • Các con của Fadil đang ở trường. Fadil's kids were at school.
  • Lượng khí các-bon đi-ô-xít đã tăng 10%. The amount of carbon dioxide has increased by 10 percent.

Bilingual example sentences from Tatoeba (tatoeba.org, CC BY 2.0 FR).

Usage note: các

các marks plural for a whole, definite group. It is very common in greetings and when addressing people.

  • Chào các bạn! — Hello everyone! (all of you)
  • Các anh chị muốn uống gì? — What would you all like to drink?
  • các nước Đông Nam Á — the countries of Southeast Asia

Compare with những, which picks out some members or emphasises a description. A rough guide: các = "all the", những = "(some/those) ... that".

With pronouns, các makes "you" plural: các anh, các chị, các em. To talk about "they" for a group of men, add ấy: các anh ấy.

✗ các những người (double plural) → ✓ choose one: những người này or các bạn.

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 各 (“each, individually, every, all”).

Frequently asked questions

What does các mean in English?

các (determiner) means "(plural marker): the, all".

How do you pronounce các?

IPA: Hanoi [kaːk̚˧˦]; Saigon [kaːk̚˦˥]. Tones: các — rising tone (sắc).

Is các a Sino-Vietnamese word?

Yes. các is a Sino-Vietnamese word from the Chinese characters 各.

Meanings, pronunciation and etymology from English Wiktionary (wiktionary.org, via kaikki.org; CC BY-SA 4.0), reviewed and edited; example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). IPA shown for three accents: Hanoi (Northern), Huế (Central) and Saigon (Southern). The Listen button uses your browser's Vietnamese voice, for reference only. Levels are approximate, estimated from word frequency. Spotted a mistake? Let NgonNgu know.