Definition

1. Verb:
   • To experience: To undergo or live through a particular situation, event, or feeling, often one that is significant, challenging, or formative. It implies a firsthand, personal encounter.
   • To taste: To sample or come to know the nature of something, typically used metaphorically for non-physical experiences like emotions or hardships. It conveys a sense of directly sensing the quality of an experience.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Cô ấy đã nếm trải nhiều khó khăn trong cuộc sống. (She has experienced many hardships in life.)
  • Anh ấy muốn nếm trải cảm giác chiến thắng. (He wants to taste the feeling of victory.)
  • Họ đã cùng nhau nếm trải những ngày tháng tươi đẹp. (They experienced beautiful days together.)

Advanced Usage

• The verb "nếm trải" often carries a connotation of depth and personal absorption. It is not used for trivial or mundane experiences but rather for those that leave a mark or contribute to one's understanding of life.
  • Nếm trải đắng cay: to taste bitterness (i.e., to experience hardship and sorrow).

Variants and Related Words

• Trải nghiệm (v/n): To experience / an experience. This is a more neutral and common synonym.

  • Trải nghiệm cuộc sống thành thị. (To experience urban life.)

• Trải qua (v): To go through, to undergo. Focuses more on the process of enduring a period or event.

  • Trải qua một cuộc phẫu thuật. (To undergo surgery.)

Synonyms

• Experience: To undergo or feel an event or emotion.
• Taste: To have a brief or initial experience of something.
• Undergo: To experience something, especially something unpleasant or demanding.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Nếm mùi thất bại/đau khổ: To taste failure/suffering. A common collocation emphasizing the direct, often unwelcome, encounter with a negative experience.
  • Công ty non trẻ đã phải nếm mùi thất bại. (The young company had to taste failure.)

1. Experience, taste
   • Nếm trải thất bại
     To taste failure