Definition

1. Phrase:
   • To remember vaguely / to recall approximately: To have an incomplete, imprecise, or hazy memory of something; to remember the general idea or a rough approximation of details rather than the exact facts.

Usage Examples

• Phrase:
  • Tôi chỉ nhớ chừng là cuộc họp bắt đầu lúc 2 giờ. (I only vaguely remember that the meeting started at 2 o'clock.)
  • Cô ấy nhớ chừng đã để chìa khóa trên bàn. (She roughly recalls leaving the keys on the table.)
  • Anh ấy trả lời dựa trên những gì nhớ chừng từ khóa học. (He answered based on what he vaguely remembered from the course.)

Advanced Usage

• This phrase is often used to express uncertainty about a memory. It is common in spoken Vietnamese to soften a statement when one is not entirely sure of the accuracy of their recollection.

Variants and Related Words

• Nhớ mang máng (phrase): to have a faint or dim memory; very similar in meaning to "nhớ chừng."

  • Tôi nhớ mang máng khuôn mặt của người đó. (I have a faint memory of that person's face.)

• Nhớ lờ mờ (phrase): to remember indistinctly or blurrily.

  • Chuyện đã lâu nên tôi chỉ nhớ lờ mờ. (It was a long time ago, so I only remember it indistinctly.)

Synonyms

• Recall vaguely
• Remember roughly
• Have a hazy recollection

Related Idioms

• Nhớ chẳng chừng: An emphatic form meaning "to not remember at all" or "to have absolutely no clear memory."
  • Chuyện ngày xưa, tôi nhớ chẳng chừng nữa. (Regarding that old story, I don't remember it at all anymore.)

1. Remember vaguely, remember approximately