- Classifiers are words which are used in Vietnamese to "specify" nouns and to "classify" into which category the noun belongs. - Classifiers are placed before the noun they classify. - Classifiers indicate the category to which a noun belongs: + Cái (general classifier, use for inanimate ojbects): cái bàn (table), cái ghế (chair), cái ô (umbrella), cái mũ (hat)... + Người (general classifier for people): người đánh cá (fisherman), người đánh giày, người dọn vệ sinh. + Con (classifier for animals, impersonal): con chó (dog), con mèo (cat), con cá (fish), con rắn (snake), con đường (road), con mắt (eye), con sông (river), con dao (knife)... + Quả/ trái (fruit): quả chanh (lemon), quả cam (orange), quả chuối (banana)... + Bộ (set): bộ bàn ghế (set of tables and chairs), bộ từ điển (set of dictionaries) + Đôi (a pair): đôi giày (a pair of shoes), đôi đũa (a pair of chopsticks) + Tờ (sheet of paper): tờ giấy (a sheet of paper), tờ báo (new paper) + Cuốn/ quyển (volume): quyển sách (book), quyển truyện (story) + Hộp (box): hộp sữa, hộp trà... + Chai (bottle): chai sữa, chai bia... + Lon (can): lon bia, lon nước ngọt... There are some classifiers. Hope it helps.

You can put "con" in front of names of animals, but not all words starting with "con" are animals. Sometimes people use "con" as a word to point out a girl (without respect/ informal). In that case "con" can be in front of the girl's name: con Ngọc, con Đào, con Thủy... "Con" is also a noun which means "child/children". For example: They have two children = Họ có hai con. Hope this can help you :)

Mostly "con" is used to indicate animals. However, you don't need to use "con" always, for example, when you say something in gereral, "Hổ là một loài động vật ăn thịt/Tigers are a predator species." "Con" can be used for human also (probably because part of us is animal I guess), ex: con người - human/humanbeings, con trai - boy, con gái - girl, con bé/con nhỏ - girl(informal) "Con" can be understood as somebody's "child/children" or used as a personal pronoun in onversations: - Nam: Mẹ ơi, con đói rồi. / I am hungry, Mom.

Thanks for the replies everyone. And the encouragement!

sometimes the classifiers and hierarchy terms are the most difficult to grasp. But once you understand and use them it will become second nature and everything will fit.