Definition

1. Verb:
   • To attend; to attend on: To serve someone by performing various small tasks related to their daily life, typically for a master, superior, or person of higher status. It implies a role of personal service and care.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Người giúp việc hầu hạ chủ nhà chu đáo. (The servant attends to the homeowner diligently.)
  • Trong cung điện, nhiều thái giám được giao nhiệm vụ hầu hạ nhà vua. (In the palace, many eunuchs were assigned the duty of attending on the king.)
  • Ông ấy không thích có người hầu hạ bên mình. (He does not like having someone attend on him.)

Advanced Usage

• "kẻ hầu người hạ": A common idiom referring to a group of servants or attendants. It literally means "some attend, others serve," emphasizing a hierarchy of service.
  • Gia đình quý tộc ấy đi đâu cũng có kẻ hầu người hạ. (That noble family goes everywhere with a retinue of attendants.)

Variants and Related Words

• Hầu (verb): A more general or classical term for "to serve" or "to attend," often used in historical or formal contexts (e.g., - to converse with a superior, - to be in close attendance).
• Phục vụ (verb): To serve. This is a more modern and general term, used in broader contexts like customer service (), and does not carry the specific connotation of personal, subordinate attendance like .
• Giúp việc (verb/noun): To help with work; a domestic helper. Focuses more on assisting with chores.

Synonyms

• Chăm sóc: To care for, to look after. While can involve service, it emphasizes care and is used in contexts like healthcare or childcare, not necessarily implying a master-servant relationship.
• Phục dịch: To serve, to perform service duties. Very close in meaning, often used in military or official contexts for assigned service tasks.

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

Note: As a Vietnamese verb, *hầu hạ does not combine with particles to form phrasal verbs in the same way English verbs do. Its meaning is contained within the single term.*

Related Idioms

• "Kẻ hầu người hạ": As mentioned above, this is the primary idiom, describing a scene or situation with many servants.
  • Cảnh tượng trong dinh thự với kẻ hầu người hạ thật xa hoa. (The scene in the mansion with all the attendants was truly luxurious.)

verb

1. to attend; to attend on