cầm bút

Thân thiện

Cô ấy do dự một lúc rồi mới cầm bút ký vào hợp đồng.

Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To be a writer; to take up writing as an activity or profession: The phrase literally means "to hold a pen/brush" and is used figuratively to mean engaging in the act of writing, especially as a writer or author.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Ông ấy đã cầm bút từ rất trẻ. (He took up writing from a very young age.)
  • Cô ấy quyết định cầm bút và viết về cuộc đời mình. (She decided to become a writer and write about her life.)

Advanced Usage

• "Đã cầm bút thì...": A common structure meaning "Once you are a writer, then..." or "If you have taken up the pen, then...", often used to state an obligation or principle for writers.
  • Đã cầm bút thì phải trung thực. (If you are a writer, you must be honest. / A writer must be truthful.)

Variants and Related Words

• Nhà văn (n): Writer, author. This is the noun for a person who writes professionally.
  • Ông ấy là một nhà văn nổi tiếng. (He is a famous writer.)
• Viết (v): To write. This is the general verb for the action.
  • Tôi thích viết nhật ký. (I like to write a diary.)

Synonyms

• Làm văn sĩ: To be a man of letters/literary writer.
• Theo nghiệp văn chương: To follow the literary career.

Related Idioms

• "Cầm cân nảy mực": This idiom means "to hold the scale and adjust the ink line", figuratively meaning to act as a judge or arbiter, often in matters of justice or morality. It shares the metaphorical sense of holding a tool (pen/scale) associated with a serious responsibility, similar to the responsibility implied in "cầm bút".
  • Vị quan ấy được dân chúng kính trọng vì ông luôn cầm cân nảy mực. (That official is respected by the people because he always acts with impartial judgment.)

Học thuật

1. Be a writer