Definition

1. Adjective (Limited to certain fixed phrases):

   • Eldest, senior, main, biggest: Used to denote the most important, largest, or first-born within a specific context.
   • On a grand scale, to a great degree: Used to emphasize the intensity, completeness, or large scope of an action or state.

2. Adverb:

   • All, whole, entire: Indicates the entirety of something, with no part excluded.
   • Very, greatly: Intensifies an adjective or verb, indicating a high degree.
   • Even: Used for emphasis, to include an extreme or surprising case.
   • (In negative constructions) At all: Used with "không" or "chẳng" to mean "not... at all."

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • biển cả (the main sea, the high seas)
  • con cả (the eldest child)
  • Nguyễn Huệ cả phá quân nhà Thanh. (Nguyen Hue decimated the Ch'ing army on a grand scale.)

• Adverb:

  • Cả ngày (the whole day)
  • Cả nước (the entire country)
  • Cả mừng (very happy, overjoyed)
  • Cả mẹ nó cũng đến. (Even her mother came.)
  • Chẳng có gì cả. (There is nothing at all.)

Advanced Usage

• "cả ăn cả tiêu": to spend lavishly, on a grand scale.

  • Gia đình ấy sống kiểu cả ăn cả tiêu. (That family lives lavishly.)

• Used for emphatic inclusion:

  • Làm cả lúc trời mưa. (To work even when it's raining.)

Variants and Related Words

• Ông cả (n): A respectful term for an eldest brother or senior male figure (archaic/regional).
• Bà cả (n): A respectful term for an eldest sister or senior female figure, or a term for the powerful in society (archaic).

Synonyms

• Adjective: Main, principal, eldest, biggest.
• Adverb: All, entire, whole, very, extremely, even.

Related Idioms

• cả vú lấp miệng em: Literally "using a large breast to cover a child's mouth." Figuratively, it means the powerful silence the weak or that might makes right.

  • Hành động đó đúng là cả vú lấp miệng em. (That action is truly the powerful silencing the weak.)

• ăn cả ngã về không: Literally "to win all or lose all." It means to go for broke, to risk everything for total gain.

  • Anh ta quyết định đầu tư, kiểu ăn cả ngã về không. (He decided to invest, going for broke.)

adj

1. (dùng hạn chế trong một số tổ hợp) Eldest, senior, main, biggest
   • biển cả
     the main (thơ), the high sea
   • sóng cả
     biggest waves, billows
   • con cả
     eldest child
   • lên giọng đàn anh kẻ cả
     to speak in the tone of a superior and senior
2. On a grand scale, on the greatest scale
   • cả ăn cả tiêu
     to spend on a grand scale
   • Nguyễn Huệ cả phá quân nhà Thanh
     Nguyen Hue destroyed the Ch'in army on a grand scale, Nguyen Hue decimated the Ch'in army