Definition

1. Demonstrative pronoun: Used to indicate a quantity, amount, or degree that has been previously mentioned, is understood from context, or is being pointed out. It corresponds to "that much," "that many," "so much," or "so many" in English, emphasizing a specific, often limited or surprising, extent.

Usage

• Bấy nhiêu is used to refer back to a quantity or degree already established in the conversation or situation. It often carries a nuance of "only that much/many" or "as much/many as that."
• It can function similarly to ấy or đó but is specifically for amounts and degrees, not objects or places.
• It is commonly used in parallel structures with bao nhiêu ("how much/many") to express proportionality: bao nhiêu... bấy nhiêu ("as much/many... as...").

Usage Examples

• Chỉ cần bấy nhiêu thôi. (That much is enough. / Only that much is needed.)
• Anh ấy đã nói bấy nhiêu lời. (He has spoken that many words.)
• Cô ấy cần bao nhiêu, tôi sẽ cho cô ấy bấy nhiêu. (She needs how much, I will give her that much. / I will give her as much as she needs.)
• Năm năm mới bấy nhiêu ngày. (Five years is only that many days.)

Advanced Usage

• Bao nhiêu... bấy nhiêu: This correlative structure means "as much/many... as..." or "the amount that... is the amount that...". It sets up a direct equivalence or proportion.
  • Anh ấy làm được bao nhiêu, anh ấy được trả bấy nhiêu. (He gets paid as much as he accomplishes. / The amount he accomplishes is the amount he gets paid.)
  • Bao nhiêu tình cảm, bấy nhiêu lời chân thành. (As much feeling, that much sincerity. / The depth of feeling matches the sincerity of the words.)

Variants and Related Words

• Bao nhiêu (Interrogative pronoun): How much? How many? Used to ask about quantity or degree.
• Bấy lâu (Adverb): For that long (a period of time until now).
• Bấy giờ (Adverb): At that time (in the past or future, depending on context).

Synonyms

• Nhiêu (Colloquial, Southern Vietnamese): A common shortened, colloquial form of bấy nhiêu or bao nhiêu used in daily speech.
  • Cần nhiêu đây thôi. (I only need this much.)
• Chừng ấy: About that much/many. Similar in meaning but often implies an approximation.
• Ngần ấy (Literary/Formal): That much/many. A more literary synonym.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Bấy nhiêu lâu: For all that time (until now). Emphasizes the duration leading up to the present.
  • Bấy nhiêu lâu anh vẫn chờ. (I have been waiting for all this time.)
• The structure bao nhiêu... bấy nhiêu itself is a fixed correlative phrase used extensively in both prose and poetry.

1. So much, that much
   • chỉ cần bấy nhiêu
     that much will do
   • Năm năm mới bấy nhiêu ngày, Mà trong trời đất đổi thay đã nhiều
     Only five years, only that much time, But so many changes have occurred to our land