Có vài hộp ở đây.

There are a few boxes here.

Breakdown of Có vài hộp ở đây.

• ở: at
• có: there is/are
• đây: here
• hộp: the box

Questions & Answers about Có vài hộp ở đây.

Why does the sentence start with có?

In this sentence, có is being used in an existential way, meaning there is / there are.

So:

• Có vài hộp ở đây. = There are a few boxes here.

This is different from có meaning to have in a sentence like:

• Tôi có một cái hộp. = I have a box.

Vietnamese often uses có at the start of a sentence to introduce the existence of something.

What does vài mean exactly?

Vài means a few or several.

It usually suggests a small number greater than one, but it is not exact.

So vài hộp means:

• a few boxes
• several boxes

It is less specific than a number like ba hộp (three boxes).

A few related words:

• vài = a few / several
• một vài = a few / some
• mấy = a few / some / how many? (depends on context)
• nhiều = many / a lot of

Why is there no word like cái before hộp?