Definition

1. Noun:

   • Last name; family name; surname: The part of a person's name that indicates their family lineage.
   • Family; clan; lineage: A group of people related by blood or common ancestry.
   • (Biology) Family: A taxonomic rank in biological classification, above genus and below order.

2. Noun (colloquial):

   • Tontine; rotating savings and credit association (ROSCA): A type of informal financial group where members contribute money regularly and take turns receiving the total collected sum.

3. Pronoun:

   • They; them: A third-person plural pronoun, often used to refer to a group of people not present or not including the speaker. It can sometimes carry a neutral or slightly distant connotation.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Last name):
  • Họ của cô ấy là Nguyễn. (Her last name is Nguyễn.)
• Noun (Family/Clan):
  • Họ hàng anh ấy rất đông. (His family/clan is very large.)
• Pronoun (They):
  • Họ đang làm việc. (They are working.)
  • Tôi không biết họ. (I don't know them.)

Advanced Usage

• "chi họ": to participate in a tontine/ROSCA.
  • Các chị tiểu thương thường chi họ với nhau. (The female vendors often participate in a tontine together.)
• "họ nói rằng...": they say that...; it is said that...
  • Họ nói rằng trời sẽ mưa. (They say that it will rain.)

Variants and Related Words

• Họ hàng (n): relatives, kinfolk.
  • Họ hàng tôi sống ở miền quê. (My relatives live in the countryside.)
• Họ ngoại (n): maternal family/clan.
• Họ nội (n): paternal family/clan.

Synonyms

• Last name: surname, family name.
• Family: clan, lineage, kin.
• They: them (third person plural pronoun).

Related Idioms

• Thấy người sang bắt quàng làm họ: To try to claim relation with someone of higher status; to be a social climber.
  • Anh ta thấy người sang bắt quàng làm họ. (He sees someone rich and tries to claim them as family.)
• Sáng tai họ, điếc tai cày: (Literal: Sharp-eared for "họ", deaf-eared for "plowing"). To be selectively obedient; to hear only what one wants to hear.

noun

1. last name ; family name

noun

1. tontine
   • chi họ
     to participate in a tontine they
   • họ nói rằng
     they say that