Definition

1. Verb:
   • To lament / to complain sorrowfully: To express feelings of sadness, grief, or discontent, often through speech, typically about one's own hardships or suffering.
   • To sigh over / to bemoan: To voice regret, disappointment, or sorrow regarding a situation.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Cô ấy thường than thở về công việc vất vả. (She often laments her hard work.)
  • Ông cụ ngồi than thở về thời gian đã qua. (The old man sat bemoaning the past.)
  • Anh ấy không biết than thở cùng ai. (He doesn't know who to share his sorrows with.)

Advanced Usage

• The verb often implies a prolonged or repetitive expression of sorrow, not just a single complaint. It carries a connotation of seeking sympathy or simply vocalizing one's burden.
• It can be used reflexively, where the subject is expressing sorrow about their own state, or it can be used with a preposition like "về" (about) to specify the cause of lament.

Variants and Related Words

• Thở than (v): A less common variant with identical meaning: to lament.
  • Họ chỉ biết thở than trong bất lực. (They could only lament in helplessness.)

Synonyms

• Lament: To express passionate grief.
• Bemoan: To express discontent or sorrow over.
• Complain: To express dissatisfaction, though "than thở" is more sorrowful than angry.

Related Idioms

• Than thân trách phận: To lament one's life and blame one's fate; a common idiom expressing deep self-pity about one's unfortunate lot in life.
  • Cô ấy suốt ngày than thân trách phận. (She spends all day lamenting her life and blaming her fate.)