cầm bút
Definition
- 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.)
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Be a writer
