Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Tired, weary, fatigued: Describes the physical or mental state of feeling discomfort, exhaustion, or strain after prolonged or strenuous activity, or under unfavorable conditions.
   • Tiring, laborious, arduous: Describes an activity or task that causes fatigue or requires significant effort.

Usage Examples

• As an adjective describing a state:

  • Làm việc cả ngày, tôi thấy rất nhọc. (Working all day, I feel very tired.)
  • Trời nắng nóng khiến người ta chóng nhọc. (Hot weather makes people get fatigued quickly.)

• As an adjective describing an activity:

  • Đó là một công việc nhọc nhằn. (That is an arduous task.)
  • Suy nghĩ về vấn đề này thật nhọc óc. (Thinking about this issue is very mind-tiring.)

Advanced Usage

• "nhọc lòng": To trouble one's mind/heart, to be worried or concerned (often used to express gratitude for someone's thoughtful effort).

  • Cảm ơn anh đã nhọc lòng giúp đỡ. (Thank you for troubling yourself to help.)

• "nhọc nhằn": Laborious, toilsome, full of hardship. This is a common reduplicative form that intensifies the meaning of 'nhọc'.

  • Cuộc sống nhọc nhằn của người nông dân. (The toilsome life of a farmer.)

Variants and Related Words

• Nhọc nhằn (adj): A reduplicated form meaning laborious, arduous, full of toil and hardship.
• Mệt nhọc (adj): A compound word combining 'mệt' (tired) and 'nhọc', meaning thoroughly fatigued, worn out.
  • Sau chuyến đi dài, anh ấy mệt nhọc. (After the long trip, he was exhausted.)

Synonyms

• Mệt: Tired, weary (more common and general for physical tiredness).
• Mỏi mệt: Weary, fatigued.
• Vất vả: Hard, difficult, demanding (often referring to the nature of work or life).

Common Collocations and Phrases

• chóng nhọc: to tire easily, to become fatigued quickly.
  • Thể trạng yếu nên chóng nhọc. (Due to a weak constitution, one tires easily.)
• nhọc sức: physically tiring, laborious.
  • Công việc nhọc sức. (Physically strenuous work.)
• nhọc trí / nhọc óc: mentally taxing, mind-tiring.
  • Bài toán này thật nhọc trí. (This math problem is very mentally taxing.)

1. Tire, tiring
   • Làm việc ngoài nắng chóng nhọc
     One tires easily when working in the sun
   • Chuyện nhọc óc
     A matter which proves tiring to one's mind