Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To make a firm assumption without solid evidence: To state something as true or likely based on intuition, guesswork, or incomplete information rather than on verified facts.
   • To hazard a confident guess: To venture a positive assertion about an uncertain matter.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Tuy chưa biết gì chắc chắn về việc đó, nhưng cũng cứ đoán già. (Although I don't know anything for certain about that matter, I'll still make a firm assumption.)
  • Anh ấy chỉ đoán già về kết quả cuộc bầu cử. (He is merely hazarding a confident guess about the election results.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase is often used in a reduplicated form "đoán già đoán non" to emphasize the act of making sheer conjecture or multiple speculative guesses.
  • Đừng đoán già đoán non nữa, hãy chờ báo cáo chính thức. (Stop making all these conjectures; wait for the official report.)

Variants and Related Words

• Phỏng đoán (v): to conjecture, to surmise. This is a more formal single-word equivalent.
  • Đó chỉ là phỏng đoán của tôi. (That is merely my conjecture.)

Synonyms

• To surmise: To suppose something is true without having evidence to confirm it.
• To conjecture: To form an opinion or theory on incomplete information.
• To assume: To accept something as true without proof.

Related Idioms

• Đoán mò: to guess blindly, to take a wild guess. This emphasizes a lack of any basis for the guess, whereas "đoán già" implies a more assertive, though still unfounded, conclusion.
  • Tôi không biết, tôi chỉ đang đoán mò thôi. (I don't know; I'm just guessing blindly.)

1. Make a positive affirmation o uncertainn grounds
   • Tuy chưa biết gì chắc chắn về việc đó, nhưng cũng cứ đoán già
     To make a positive affirmation on something one has not got any factual information
   • Đoán già đoán non
     To make a sheer conecture