thì
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Vietnamese
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]Sino-Vietnamese word from 時 (“time”). Doublet of thời and giờ.
Noun
[edit]thì
- Alternative form of thời (“time; period”)
- dăm thì mười hoạ ― seldom
- the prime time in terms of physical development
- đến thì/dậy thì
- to hit puberty
- (grammar) a tense
- thì quá khứ ― past tense
See also
[edit]Derived terms
Etymology 2
[edit]Most likely from etymology 1.
Particle
[edit]thì
- (after noun or pronoun or nominalized utterances) as for ..., it is/does/will ...
- tham thì thâm ― Greed will lead to one's downfall (literally, “As for [the fact that one is] greedy, [it will lead to their] bruises”)
- Hỏi nó thử xem. Tao thì sao cũng được.
- Try asking him about it. I'm all for it.
- (literally, “Try asking him. As for me, anything is good.”)
- Có chí thì nên.
- So long as you have your will, you will achieve greatness.
- (literally, “As for [the fact that one] has willpower, [they will turn out] great.”)
- Thôi đi cha nội! Mày thì biết cái gì!
- Just shaddap! The hell do ya know?
- (literally, “Stop it, paternal father! As for you, [you] know what?”)
- Chồng thì gia trưởng, con thì hư đốn. Thôi tôi chết quách cho rồi!
- My husband is a damn patriarch, my children are a spoiled bunch. Just grant me death already!
- (literally, “As for [my] husband, [he is] patriarchal, as for [my] children, [they are] naughty. Forget it, I'll die!”)
- Làm thì lười, thấy lòng lợn thì gắp lia lịa.
- You always goof off, and yet when you see food you take more bites than you can swallow.
- (literally, “As for when you work, you are lazy, as for when you see pig guts, you grab them non-stop.”)
- (informal) in that case, then ...; well, then ...
- Nếu ổng hỏi thì làm sao?
Thì cứ vờ như không biết chứ sao!- What if he asks?
Just pretend you didn't know then! - (literally, “If he asks, what [should I do]?
In that case, just pretend you didn't know!”)
- What if he asks?
- Ổng mà hỏi là chết tao!
Thì mày cứ vờ như không biết!- Man, if he asks me, I'm so dead!
Just pretend you didn't know then! - (literally, “He asks, [that will] doom me!
In that case, just pretend you didn't know!”)
- Man, if he asks me, I'm so dead!
Usage notes
[edit]- Used quite similarly to the Japanese topic particle は (wa) to mark the topic of a sentence. However, unlike the Japanese counterpart, it doesn't need to accompany words for time or place to specify contrast; in those cases, such words may be simply treated as adverbials like their English equivalents. For example:
- Hôm nay (thì) để tao đãi.
- Today, I'll treat.
- (literally, “As for today (as opposed to other days), let me treat.”)
- Can accompany nếu (“if”) and be translated as "then". In that case, the whole preceding "nếu-clause" functions like a noun.
- Nếu mày biết lỗi thì được.
- If you're sorry, then it'll be fine.
- (literally, “As for the fact that you're sorry, it's okay then.”)
See also
[edit]Derived terms