nghìn
Definition
Numeral:
- Thousand: The cardinal number equal to 10 times 100, represented as 1,000.
- A large, indefinite number: Used figuratively to express a very large quantity or multitude.
Noun:
- A unit of a thousand: Used to denote a group or set comprising one thousand items.
- A thousand monetary units: In currency, refers to one thousand units of the local money (e.g., đồng).
Usage Examples
Numeral:
- Thành phố có dân số hơn một nghìn người. (The city has a population of over one thousand people.)
- Cô ấy có nghìn lý do để từ chối. (She has a thousand reasons to refuse.)
Noun:
- Anh ấy vừa tiêu hết vài nghìn. (He just spent a few thousand [monetary units].)
- Họ bán hàng theo từng nghìn. (They sell goods by the thousand.)
Advanced Usage
"nghìn lần": a thousand times; used for emphasis in comparisons.
- Chiếc xe mới tốt hơn nghìn lần. (The new car is a thousand times better.)
"nghìn năm": a thousand years; often used in poetic or historical contexts to mean a very long time.
- Tình yêu đó kéo dài nghìn năm. (That love lasted a thousand years.)
Variants and Related Words
Ngàn (num): A common variant of "nghìn" with identical meaning, often used in Southern Vietnamese and poetry.
- Ngàn sao lấp lánh trên trời. (A thousand stars twinkle in the sky.)
Hàng nghìn (phrase): thousands of; indicates an imprecise large number in the thousands.
- Hàng nghìn người tham dự lễ hội. (Thousands of people attended the festival.)
Phần nghìn (n): one-thousandth; a fractional unit (1/1000).
- Chỉ sai số phần nghìn. (The error margin is only one-thousandth.)
Synonyms
- Thousand: the cardinal number 1,000.
- Millenary: consisting of a thousand.
- A grand: informal English for a thousand monetary units (similar to the monetary use of "nghìn").
Related Idioms
Nghìn lẻ một đêm: "One Thousand and One Nights"; refers to the famous collection of Middle Eastern folk tales.
- Câu chuyện như trong nghìn lẻ một đêm. (The story is like one from the Arabian Nights.)
Nghìn trùng xa cách: separated by a thousand miles; means being very far apart.
- Họ yêu nhau dù nghìn trùng xa cách. (They love each other despite being separated by a thousand miles.)