Definitions

1. Adjective:
   • Hard-working, diligent, industrious: Describes a person who works consistently, with effort and care, often showing a positive attitude towards labor.
   • Frequently doing (an activity): In some contexts, it can imply a tendency or habit of often engaging in a specific action, though the primary meaning is diligence.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Anh ấy là một người hay làm và đáng tin cậy. (He is a hard-working and reliable person.)
  • Cô ấy rất hay làm, luôn hoàn thành công việc trước thời hạn. (She is very diligent, always finishing her work ahead of schedule.)
  • Bà tôi tuy già nhưng vẫn hay làm lắm. (My grandmother, though old, is still very industrious.)

Advanced Usage

• "hay lam hay làm": An emphatic, idiomatic reduplication meaning "extremely diligent" or "very hard-working." It intensifies the core adjective.
  • Người nông dân ấy hay lam hay làm, cả ngày ở ngoài đồng. (That farmer is extremely hard-working, spending all day in the fields.)

Variants and Related Words

• Chăm chỉ (adj): Diligent, assiduous. A very close synonym, perhaps more common in formal contexts.
  • Học sinh chăm chỉ. (A diligent student.)
• Cần cù (adj): Industrious, hard-working. Often used to describe a valuable character trait.
  • Tính cần cù là một đức tính tốt. (Industriousness is a good virtue.)
• Siêng năng (adj): Zealous, diligent. Emphasizes eagerness and consistent effort.
  • Cô ấy siêng năng làm việc nhà. (She is zealous in doing housework.)

Synonyms

• Hard-working: Chăm chỉ, cần cù.
• Diligent: Tận tụy, siêng năng.
• Industrious: Có tính chịu khó, cần mẫn.

Related Phrases

• Đầu tắt mặt tối: An idiom describing someone who works from dawn till dusk, very busy and hard-working. It conveys a stronger sense of constant toil than "hay làm."
  • Bố mẹ tôi đầu tắt mặt tối để nuôi chúng tôi ăn học. (My parents work incessantly to raise and educate us.)

1. Hard-working, diligent, industrious
   • Hay lam hay làm
     Very diligent