Definition

1. Noun:
   • A debt to society; a moral or social obligation: "nợ đời" refers to the perceived duty or responsibility one has to contribute to society or to repay the benefits one has received from it. It often carries a philosophical or fatalistic tone, suggesting an unavoidable burden or duty inherent in human existence.
   • A heavy, inescapable burden in life: In a figurative sense, it can describe a difficult, lifelong responsibility or hardship that one must bear.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Anh ấy luôn tâm niệm mình còn một món nợ đời phải trả. (He always holds the belief that he still has a debt to society to repay.)
  • Câu chuyện của ông ấy là câu chuyện về một món nợ đời không bao giờ dứt. (His story is one of a lifelong debt that never ends.)
  • "Nợ đời trả trả vay vay" là một câu ca dao quen thuộc. ("Life's debts are paid and borrowed again" is a familiar folk verse.)

Advanced Usage

• "trả nợ đời": to pay one's debt to society; to fulfill one's lifelong duty or obligation.
  • Sau bao năm bôn ba, giờ ông chỉ muốn về quê trả nợ đời bằng cách dạy học cho trẻ em. (After many years of wandering, now he just wants to return to his hometown to pay his debt to society by teaching children.)

Variants and Related Words

• Nợ (n): debt (the general term for financial or moral debt).
  • nợ nần: debts (plural, often implying financial troubles).
• Trả nợ (v): to repay a debt.
• Món nợ (n): a sum of debt; a debt (used as a counter for debts).

Synonyms

• Bổn phận: duty, obligation (more neutral, less fatalistic).
• Nghĩa vụ: obligation, responsibility (often used in legal or formal contexts).
• Gánh nặng: burden (emphasizes the weight of the responsibility).

Related Phrases

• Mắc nợ đời: to be indebted to life/society; to carry a lifelong debt.
  • Cả đời ông ấy cảm thấy mình mắc nợ đời vì những cơ hội đã được nhận. (All his life he felt indebted to society for the opportunities he had received.)

Related Idioms

• Nợ đời trả trả vay vay: An idiom from folk poetry meaning the debts of life are constantly being repaid and re-borrowed; it illustrates the cyclical and perpetual nature of duties and obligations in human life.
  • Cuộc sống con người nhiều khi cũng chỉ là "nợ đời trả trả vay vay". (Human life is often just a matter of "repaying and borrowing life's debts.")

1. Debt to society
   • Trả nợ đời
     To pay one's debt to nature