No. 187 in Vietnamese
cái
The Vietnamese word "cái" is a classifier used for most tangible, inanimate objects.
In a sentence
Cái bàn này rất lớn.
This table is very big.
Here, 'cái' is a classifier used for desk (bàn), specifying a singular noun.
Cái đẹp thật là đáng trân trọng.
Beauty is truly respectable.
In this sentence, 'cái' denotes an abstract concept or quality, such as 'the beauty'.
Tôi vừa mua một cái áo mới.
I just bought a new shirt.
'Cái' functions as a classifier for shirt (áo), used to indicate individual items.
Hear it in real podcasts
The recording above is a synthetic voice. Hear how people say “cái” in actual Vietnamese podcasts.
Find “cái” in podcastsLearn it from shows you like
LangTurbo plays Vietnamese podcasts with a transcript and the English under every line. Tap a word like this one and it tells you what it means right there. For iPhone, iPad and Android.
Learning English?
LangTurbo plays real English podcasts with every line translated into Tiếng Việt, and tells you what any word means in that sentence. For iPhone, iPad and Android.
Vietnamese books and courses on Amazon (an affiliate link: a purchase through it supports this site).