Definition

1. Noun phrase:
   • All one's life, one's entire lifetime: "Nhất sinh" refers to the complete duration of a person's life, from beginning to end. It emphasizes the totality of a lifetime in relation to an action, state, or principle.

Usage

• "Nhất sinh" is a literary and somewhat formal term, often used to express a lifelong commitment, habit, or characteristic. It is typically placed at the beginning of a statement to modify the action that follows, emphasizing its constancy throughout one's entire existence.

Usage Examples

• Noun phrase:
  • Nhất sinh, ông ấy phụng sự cho khoa học. (All his life, he served science.)
  • Bà ấy nhất sinh không nói dối. (She never told a lie her entire life.)
  • Nhất sinh tôi chưa từng thấy cảnh tượng nào đẹp như vậy. (In all my life, I have never seen a sight as beautiful as that.)

Advanced Usage

• "Nhất sinh một lời hứa": A promise for a lifetime.
  • Đó là nhất sinh một lời hứa mà anh ấy sẽ giữ. (That is a lifelong promise he will keep.)
• The phrase can be used in reflective or philosophical contexts to summarize a person's core belief or enduring trait.

Variants and Related Words

• Cả đời (phrase): Whole life, all one's life. (A more common, everyday synonym)
• Suốt đời (phrase): Throughout one's life. (Another common synonym)
• Trọn đời (phrase): For one's whole life, lifelong. (Often used for commitments like "trọn đời chung thủy" - lifelong fidelity)

Synonyms

• Cả cuộc đời: One's whole life.
• Một đời: A lifetime.

Related Idioms

• "Nhất sinh nhất thế": (Literally: one life, one world) This idiom reinforces the concept of a single, unique lifetime, often used to advise making the most of it or to describe a profound, once-in-a-lifetime experience or relationship.
  • Mối tình ấy là nhất sinh nhất thế. (That love affair was the one and only of a lifetime.)

1. All one's life
   • Nhất sinh không uống một cốc rượu
     Not to drink a cup of alcohol all one's life