chen

Thân thiện

Mọi người chen nhau vào cửa hàng trong ngày khai trương.

Definition

1. Verb:
   • To elbow, to jostle, to squeeze: To push one's way into a tight or crowded space, often using physical force or persistence.
   • To intersperse, to mix, to interject: To place or insert something among other things; to add a comment into a conversation.

Usage Examples

• Verb (to elbow/jostle):
  • Mọi người chen nhau để mua vé. (People jostled each other to buy tickets.)
  • Cô ấy chen vào đám đông. (She elbowed her way into the crowd.)
• Verb (to intersperse/interject):
  • Trong bài phát biểu, ông ấy chen vào một câu chuyện cười. (In his speech, he interjected a joke.)
  • Niềm vui của cô ấy có chen lẫn nỗi buồn. (Her joy was mixed with sadness.)

Advanced Usage

• "chen chân": Literally "to squeeze a foot in," meaning to manage to get into a very crowded place or a competitive situation.
  • Hội trường đông nghẹt, chen chân không lọt. (The hall was packed; you couldn't squeeze in.)
• "chen lấn": To push and shove aggressively in a crowd.
  • Đám đông chen lấn ở cửa siêu thị. (The crowd pushed and shoved at the supermarket entrance.)

Variants and Related Words

• Chen vai thích cánh (idiomatic verb phrase): Literally "to squeeze shoulders and press wings," meaning to compete intensely side-by-side or to vie for position in a crowded field.
  • Các công ty công nghệ chen vai thích cánh trên thị trường. (Technology companies vie fiercely for position in the market.)
• Xen (verb): To insert, to interpose. Often used similarly to "chen" for non-physical mixing or interjecting.
  • Xen kẽ: to alternate, to intersperse.

Synonyms

• To jostle, to squeeze, to push: For the physical meaning.
• To interject, to interpose, to mix in: For the conversational or mixing meaning.

Related Idioms

• Chen chúc: To be packed tightly together, to crowd.
  • Người dân chen chúc trong khu sơ tán. (People were packed together in the evacuation area.)

Học thuật

verb

1. To elbow, to jostle
   • chen vào đám đông
     to elbow oneself into the crowd, to elbow one's way into the crowd
   • đông quá chen chân không lọt
     the crush was such that it was impossible to elbow oneself in
   • thuyền bè chen nhau vào bến
     boats and rafts jostled for berth
2. To intersperse, to mix
   • cỏ cây chen đá, lá chen hoa
     rocks were interspersed with vegetation and leaves with blooms
   • nói chen vào một câu
     to cut in with a sentence
   • trong niềm vui có chen lẫn chút ít lo âu
     a joy mixed with some degree of anxiety
   • chen vai thích cánh
     to vie hard with each other in some common job