Definition

1. Verb:
   • To damage, to harm, to injure: To cause physical injury or impairment to a person, organism, or part of the body.
   • To hurt, to impair, to detrimentally affect: To cause non-physical damage or harm to something abstract, such as reputation, feelings, rights, or interests.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Viên đạn đã gây thương tổn ở phổi. (The bullet caused damage to the lung.)
  • Lời nói thiếu suy nghĩ của anh ấy làm thương tổn đến danh dự của gia đình. (His thoughtless words hurt the family's honor.)
  • Hành động đó có thể thương tổn đến mối quan hệ đối tác. (That action could damage the partnership.)

Advanced Usage

• "gây thương tổn": to cause damage/injury/harm. This is a very common collocation.
  • Chất độc này gây thương tổn nghiêm trọng cho gan. (This toxin causes serious damage to the liver.)
• Used in formal, legal, or medical contexts to describe harm or injury.
  • Bên nguyên đơn yêu cầu bồi thường cho những thương tổn về tinh thần. (The plaintiff demanded compensation for psychological injuries.)

Variants and Related Words

• Tổn thương (v/n): This is a more common variant with the same core meanings of "to injure/damage" (verb) or "injury/damage" (noun). It is often used interchangeably with "thương tổn".
  • Sự kiện đó để lại nhiều tổn thương tâm lý. (That event left many psychological wounds.)
• Thương tích (n): A noun specifically meaning a physical wound or injury.
  • Nạn nhân có nhiều thương tích nặng. (The victim has many severe injuries.)

Synonyms

• To damage: To cause harm or injury that reduces value, usefulness, or normal function.
• To injure: To cause physical harm or damage to a living being.
• To harm: To cause hurt or damage to someone or something.
• To impair: To weaken or damage something, especially a human faculty or function.

Related Idioms

• While "thương tổn" itself is not typically used in idiomatic expressions, the concept is central to phrases like:
  • Làm tổn thương lòng tự trọng: To wound someone's pride.
  • Gây thương tổn không thể khắc phục: To cause irreparable harm.

verb

1. to damage, to hurt