Market Measures: cân, lạng, nải, bó, chục

At the market and in restaurants, food is counted with measure words placed between the number and the noun: hai cân cam (two kilos of oranges).

• cân – one kilogram; in everyday speech also ký. lạng – 100 grams, so một cân = mười lạng.
• nải – a hand of bananas; bó – a bunch (flowers, vegetables, firewood).
• chục – ten: một chục trứng (ten eggs), nửa chục (five). In the South, fruit sellers often count a chục as 12 to 14 pieces.
• bát – a bowl (a large bowl is often called tô); đĩa – a plate.
• ổ – a loaf or roll of bánh mì; chai – a bottle; gói – a packet.

The order is always number + measure word + noun: ba lạng thịt (300 g of meat), một bát phở (a bowl of pho).