Definition

1. Verb:
   • To farm (land): The primary meaning of "cày bừa" is to perform the fundamental agricultural tasks of plowing and harrowing soil to prepare it for planting. It refers to the combined process of tilling and leveling farmland.
   • To work the land: It broadly describes the labor-intensive process of cultivating and preparing soil for crops.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Người nông dân đang cày bừa trên cánh đồng. (The farmer is tilling the soil in the field.)
  • Trước mùa vụ, họ phải cày bừa đất rất kỹ. (Before the crop season, they have to work the land very thoroughly.)
  • Công việc cày bừa đã hoàn tất. (The work of plowing and harrowing is finished.)

Advanced Usage

• The term "cày bừa" can be used metaphorically in informal contexts to describe working very hard or diligently on a repetitive task, similar to "to grind" or "to toil."
  • Anh ấy cày bừa cả đêm để hoàn thành bài tập. (He grinded all night to complete the assignment.)

Variants and Related Words

• Cày (v): specifically to plow.

  • Họ dùng trâu để cày đất. (They use buffalo to plow the land.)

• Bừa (v): specifically to harrow (to break up and smooth soil after plowing).

  • Sau khi cày, phải bừa cho đất nhỏ lại. (After plowing, one must harrow to break the soil into smaller pieces.)

Synonyms

• To till: to prepare and cultivate land for crops.
• To plow: to turn over the earth with a plow.
• To cultivate: to prepare and use land for growing crops.

Related Idioms

• Cày sâu cuốc bẫm: (literally: to plow deep and hoe diligently) an idiom praising hard work and thoroughness in farming or any endeavor.
  • Nhờ cày sâu cuốc bẫm, vụ mùa năm nay bội thu. (Thanks to diligent and thorough work, this year's harvest is abundant.)

verb

1. to farm