Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To follow one another in a line; to form or move in a queue or sequence: Describes the action of people or things moving or arranged one after the other, often in a continuous line.
   • To succeed or come after in a series: Can describe things or events that follow consecutively.

Usage

• The phrase nối đuôi is used to describe a physical or metaphorical sequence.
• It often implies a continuous, unbroken line or order.
• Commonly used with nhau (each other) as nối đuôi nhau to emphasize the mutual or collective action of following in succession.

Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Khán giả nối đuôi nhau vào rạp chiếu phim. (The audience filed into the movie theater one after another.)
  • Những chiếc xe tải nối đuôi nhau trên con đường đèo. (The trucks followed one another on the mountain pass road.)
  • Các sự kiện buồn cứ nối đuôi nhau xảy ra trong năm đó. (Sad events just kept happening one after another that year.)

Advanced Usage

• "nối đuôi" in a competitive or comparative context: Can imply following behind someone because they are ahead, often in a race, competition, or trend.
  • Công ty của họ luôn phải nối đuôi các đối thủ về công nghệ. (Their company always has to follow behind its competitors in terms of technology.)

Variants and Related Words

• Xếp hàng (v): To line up, to queue. This focuses more on the static formation of a line, while nối đuôi emphasizes the action of following in sequence.
• Tiếp nối (v): To continue, to succeed. This is more general and abstract, often used for ideas, traditions, or events.
• Đuôi (n): Tail. The literal meaning, from which the metaphorical sense of "following behind" is derived.

Synonyms

• Đi thành hàng: To go in a line.
• Theo sau nhau: To follow one another.

Related Idioms

• Cưỡi ngựa xem hoa, nối đuôi nhau cười: (An idiom about superficial observation leading to mindless imitation). This uses nối đuôi nhau to criticize blindly following a trend or action without understanding.
  • Phê bình mà không hiểu tác phẩm thì chỉ là nối đuôi nhau cười. (Criticizing without understanding the work is just laughing along mindlessly.)

1. Follow one another, life in, queue up
   • Nối đuôi nhau vào rạp
     To go into a threatre following one another; to file into a threatre