Definition

1. Adverb:
   • A long time ago, in the past: "hôm xưa" refers to a day or a time in the distant past, not a specific recent day. It evokes nostalgia or memories.
   • (Dialectal) The day before yesterday: In some regional dialects, "hôm xưa" can mean the day before yesterday, similar to "hôm kia".

Usage Examples

• Adverb:
  • Hôm xưa, đời sống thật bình yên. (A long time ago, life was very peaceful.)
  • Bà tôi thường kể chuyện hôm xưa. (My grandmother often tells stories from the old days.)
  • (Dialectal) Tôi gặp anh ấy hôm xưa. (I met him the day before yesterday.)

Advanced Usage

• "Ngày hôm xưa": This phrase is a more poetic or emphatic version, meaning "those bygone days".

  • Ngày hôm xưa ấy sao mà đẹp thế. (Those bygone days were so beautiful.)

• Used to contrast the past with the present.

  • Hôm xưa khác, bây giờ khác. (The past was different, now is different.)

Variants and Related Words

• Hôm kia (adv): The day before yesterday (standard usage).
• Ngày xưa (adv): In the old days, long ago (broader time frame than "hôm xưa").
• Thuở xưa (adv): In ancient times, long, long ago (more literary and distant).

Synonyms

• Ngày trước (adv): In the past, previously.
• Thuở nào (adv): In times gone by (poetic).

Related Phrases

• Chuyện hôm xưa: Stories from the past.
  • Đó chỉ là chuyện hôm xưa thôi. (That's just a story from the past.)

Related Idioms

• "Hôm xưa sao, hôm nay vậy": An idiom implying that things haven't changed; it's the same now as it was back then.
  • Anh ấy vẫn thế, hôm xưa sao hôm nay vậy. (He's still the same, no change from then to now.)

1. One long past day
   • như hôm kia