Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To try to win someone's heart/favor: The primary meaning is to act deliberately to gain someone's affection, approval, or goodwill.
   • To please / to try to please: To make an effort to satisfy or make someone happy, often with a strategic or ingratiating purpose.
   • To curry favor: To seek to gain a positive opinion or special treatment from someone through flattery or pleasing acts.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Anh ta tặng quà để lấy lòng sếp. (He gives gifts to try to win his boss's favor.)
  • Cô ấy cười nói nhẹ nhàng chỉ để lấy lòng mọi người. (She speaks and smiles gently just to please everyone.)
  • Đừng tin những lời khen đó, hắn chỉ đang lấy lòng bạn thôi. (Don't trust that praise; he's just trying to curry your favor.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase often implies a calculated or insincere motive behind the pleasing actions, though not always negatively.
• It can describe actions ranging from simple kindness to outright flattery, with context determining the nuance.

Variants and Related Words

• Làm lành (v): to make peace, to reconcile. This focuses on mending a relationship rather than strategically gaining favor.
  • Sau khi cãi nhau, anh ấy tìm cách làm lành với vợ. (After arguing, he tried to make peace with his wife.)

Synonyms

• To butter up: (informal) to flatter or be overly kind to someone to gain favor.
• To suck up to: (informal, often derogatory) to try to gain favor through excessive flattery or obedience.
• To ingratiate oneself: (formal) to bring oneself into favor with someone by deliberate effort.

Related Idioms

• Lấy lòng người yêu: Literally "to win the heart of one's beloved." This specific collocation refers to romantic courtship or pleasing a romantic partner.
  • Anh ấy học nấu ăn để lấy lòng người yêu. (He learned to cook to try to win his girlfriend's heart.)

1. try to win someone's heart