Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To get into trouble / to be punished: To face negative consequences, punishment, or retribution for one's wrongful actions.
   • To suffer retribution: To suffer harm or misfortune as a perceived divine or karmic punishment for having done evil.
   • (Rhetorical) Why should...? / What's the point of...?: Used to question the logic of doing something troublesome when an easier alternative exists.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Kẻ cắp phải tội. (A thief gets into trouble.)
  • Chớ làm điều ác mà phải tội. (Don't do evil, or you will suffer retribution.)
  • Có xe, phải tội mà đi bộ? (You have a car, why should you walk?)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase often carries a moral or superstitious connotation, implying that wrongdoing inevitably leads to punishment, either by earthly authorities or by a cosmic principle of justice.
• In its rhetorical form, it expresses a strong, sometimes sarcastic, objection to an unnecessary difficulty or inconvenience.

Variants and Related Words

• Phải vạ (verb phrase): A synonym meaning to get into trouble or to be penalized.

Synonyms

• To be punished: To suffer a penalty for an offense.
• To pay for something: To suffer the consequences of one's actions.
• To incur blame/guilt: To become subject to censure or punishment.

Related Idioms

• The phrase itself is often used in proverbial or warning statements, as in "" (He who does evil will be repaid with evil), which shares the core idea of inevitable retribution found in "".

1. Get into trouble, suffer for in retribution
   • Kẻ cắp phải tội
     A pick-pocked gets into trouble.
   • Chớ làm điều ác mà phải tội
     Don't do any evil, otherwise you will suffer for it in retribution
2. Why should
   • Có xe, phải tội mà đi bộ
     Why should one walk, when one has a vehicle?