Definition

1. Adverb:
   • At that time, then: "khi ấy" refers to a specific point or period in the past that is being discussed or recalled. It is used to indicate a temporal connection to a previously mentioned or understood moment.

Usage

• Position in Sentence: Typically used at the beginning of a clause or sentence to set the time context, or after a comma to connect ideas temporally.
• Function: It serves as a temporal adverb, linking the described event or state to a specific past time.

Usage Examples

• Adverb:
  • Khi ấy, tôi còn là một học sinh tiểu học. (At that time, I was still a primary school student.)
  • Chúng tôi đã không có đủ thông tin. Khi ấy, quyết định đó là hợp lý. (We did not have enough information. At that time, that decision was reasonable.)
  • Cô ấy nhớ lại, khi ấy trời đang mưa rất to. (She recalled that at that moment, it was raining heavily.)

Advanced Usage

• "Ngay khi ấy": Right at that moment, immediately then.
  • Chuông điện thoại reo lên ngay khi ấy. (The phone rang right at that moment.)
• "Vào lúc khi ấy": At that particular time (adds slight emphasis on the specific time).
  • Vào lúc khi ấy, anh ấy đang ở nước ngoài. (At that particular time, he was abroad.)

Variants and Related Words

• Lúc ấy (adv): At that time, then. (Very similar in meaning and often interchangeable with "khi ấy").
• Hồi ấy (adv): At that time, back then. (Often used for more distant past periods).
• Thời điểm ấy (n): That point in time, that moment. (A noun phrase).
• Đương thời (adv): At the time, contemporaneously. (More formal/literary).

Synonyms

• Lúc đó: At that time.
• Bấy giờ: At that time, then. (More literary).
• Thời đó: During that period.

Related Phrases

• Cho đến khi ấy: Until that time.
  • Mọi thứ vẫn bình thường cho đến khi ấy. (Everything was still normal until that time.)
• Từ khi ấy trở đi: From that time onward.
  • Từ khi ấy trở đi, cuộc sống của họ thay đổi hoàn toàn. (From that time onward, their lives changed completely.)

Related Idioms

• Khi ấy chưa...: ...was not yet the case at that time.
  • Khi ấy tôi chưa biết sự thật. (I did not yet know the truth at that time.)