Definition

1. Adverb (Phó từ):
   • Sooner or later, eventually: "Kíp chầy" is a literary and somewhat archaic Vietnamese adverb used to indicate that something will happen at some point in the future, whether soon or after some delay. It emphasizes the inevitability of an event.

Usage Examples

• Adverb:
  • Công lý kíp chầy rồi cũng sẽ được thực thi. (Justice will sooner or later be served.)
  • Kíp chầy anh ấy cũng sẽ nhận ra lỗi lầm của mình. (Sooner or later, he will realize his mistake.)
  • Những kẻ gian ác, kíp chầy cũng bị trừng trị. (The wicked will eventually be punished.)

Advanced Usage

• Literary and Formal Context: This word is primarily found in classical literature, proverbs, formal writing, or poetic language. It is rarely used in modern everyday conversation.
  • Trong tác phẩm ấy, tác giả thường dùng từ "kíp chầy" để nói về số phận. (In that work, the author often uses the word "kíp chầy" to speak of fate.)

Variants and Related Words

• Chầy kíp: This is a variant with the same meaning, where the order of the two components is reversed. It is equally literary and archaic.
  • Chầy kíp rồi mọi sự cũng qua đi. (Sooner or later, everything will pass.)
• Sớm muộn: A modern and commonly used synonym with the same meaning ("sooner or later").
• Chóng chầy: An archaic term meaning "fast or slow," relating to the passage of time.

Synonyms

• Sớm muộn: Sooner or later.
• Rồi cũng đến lúc: The time will eventually come.
• Một lúc nào đó: At some point.

Related Idioms

• Kíp chầy thôi cũng một lần mà thôi: A classical literary phrase meaning "sooner or later, it's just once and that's all." It conveys that a significant event, often an inevitable one (like death or a major change), will happen only once regardless of when it occurs.
  • Đời người ngắn ngủi, kíp chầy thôi cũng một lần mà thôi. (Human life is short; sooner or later, it happens just once.)

1. (văn chương, cũ) Sooner or later