Definition

1. Noun:
   • A period of three months: "ba tháng" literally means "three months," referring to a quarter of a year.
   • A specific three-month period: Often used to refer to a particular trimester or season, such as a season in agriculture or a phase in pregnancy.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Cô ấy đang mang thai được ba tháng. (She is three months pregnant.)
  • Mùa mưa ở đây thường kéo dài ba tháng. (The rainy season here usually lasts for three months.)

Advanced Usage

• "ba tháng mười ngày": An idiomatic expression meaning "a very long time" or "three months and ten days," often used hyperbolically to emphasize a lengthy duration.
  • Chờ đợi kết quả như ba tháng mười ngày. (Waiting for the result felt like three months and ten days.)

Variants and Related Words

• Tam cá nguyệt (n): A Sino-Vietnamese term for "trimester," commonly used in formal or medical contexts (e.g., pregnancy, academic years).
  • Sản phụ bước vào tam cá nguyệt thứ hai. (The pregnant woman has entered the second trimester.)
• Quý (n): A quarter (of a year), a term used in business, finance, and time planning.
  • Công ty công bố báo cáo tài chính quý ba. (The company announced its third-quarter financial report.)

Synonyms

• Một quý: One quarter (three months).
• 90 ngày: Ninety days.

Notes on Dialectal Usage

• As indicated in the reference, in some Vietnamese dialects, "ba tháng" is used similarly to "ba giăng." "Ba giăng" is a regional/dialectal term, primarily in some Central and Southern dialects, also meaning "three months," where "giăng" is a variant of "trăng" (moon), referring to lunar months.
  • Ở quê tôi, người ta hay nói "ba giăng" thay vì "ba tháng". (In my hometown, people often say "ba giăng" instead of "ba tháng".)

1. (địa phương) như ba giăng