Definition

1. Phrase (Cụm từ):
   • Not at all easy; Far from easy; By no means easy: An emphatic rhetorical phrase used to strongly negate the possibility or ease of something. It expresses that something is extremely difficult, unlikely, or rare. It often carries a tone of challenge or strong assertion.

Usage Examples

• As a rhetorical question or statement:
  • Há dễ mấy khi gặp may mắn thế này. (It is not at all easy to come by such a piece of luck as this.)
  • Há dễ ai cũng làm được việc đó? (Is it by any means easy for everyone to do that? / It's far from easy for everyone to do that.)
  • Thành công há dễ đạt được trong một sớm một chiều. (Success is by no means easy to achieve overnight.)

Advanced Usage

• "Há dễ... (mà)...": Often used to introduce a clause that states something difficult to achieve or unlikely to happen.
  • Há dễ mà thuyết phục được ông ấy thay đổi ý kiến. (It's not at all easy to persuade him to change his mind.)
• Used in formal writing, classical literature, or rhetorical speech to add emphasis and a classical tone.

Variants and Related Words

• Khó lòng (phr): Hard to; Difficult to. (Less emphatic and more common than "há dễ").
• Đâu dễ (phr): Not easy. (A more modern and common colloquial equivalent).
• Há (adv): An archaic/interrogative adverb meaning "how could it be?" or "is it really?", often used to form rhetorical questions. "Há dễ" is a fixed phrase derived from this usage.

Synonyms

• Đâu phải dễ: It's not easy.
• Không dễ chút nào: Not easy at all.
• Khó có thể: Hardly possible; Difficult to.

Notes on Usage

• Tone and Register: "Há dễ" is a formal, literary, and somewhat archaic phrase. It is commonly found in classical Vietnamese texts, proverbs, formal speeches, or used for stylistic effect in modern writing to sound emphatic or poetic. It is less common in everyday casual conversation.
• Structure: It typically functions as an adverbial phrase modifying the entire clause that follows. It sets up a strong negation regarding the ease or likelihood of the subsequent action or state.

1. Not at all easy
   • Há dễ mấy khi gặp may mắn thế này
     It is not at all easy to come by such a piece of luck as this