thề
Verb: 1. To swear, to vow, to pledge: To make a solemn promise or declaration, often invoking a higher power or something sacred as a witness, to affirm the truth of a statement or one's commitment to a future action. 2. To curse, to use profanity: To use offensive or blasphemous language, often in anger or frustration. (Note: This meaning is less common in formal contexts but exists in colloquial use, similar to "swear" in English.)
To swear/to vow:
- Anh ấy thề sẽ không bao giờ hút thuốc nữa. (He swore/vowed he would never smoke again.)
- Cô thề trước bàn thờ tổ tiên. (She swore before the ancestral altar.)
- Họ thề trung thành với tổ quốc. (They pledged their loyalty to the homeland.)
To curse:
- Ông ta tức giận và thề một tràng. (He got angry and swore/cursed a string of words.)
"thề non hẹn biển": To make extravagant, grandiose promises that are unlikely to be kept; to promise the moon.
- Đừng tin những lời thề non hẹn biển. (Don't believe those extravagant promises.)
"thề sống thề chết": To swear vehemently or with great emphasis; to swear one's life on something.
- Anh ta thề sống thề chết rằng mình vô tội. (He swore up and down that he was innocent.)
"thề bồi": To swear an oath emphatically (often with added intensity or repetition).
- Nó thề bồi là đã không làm. (He emphatically swore he didn't do it.)
Lời thề (n): An oath, a vow.
- Anh đã vi phạm lời thề. (You have broken your oath.)
Thề nguyền (v): To pledge solemnly (often in a romantic or deeply committed context).
- Họ thề nguyền sống chết có nhau. (They pledged to be together in life and death.)
Thề thốt (v): To swear profusely or repeatedly (can imply insincerity).
- Suốt ngày chỉ biết thề thốt, không thấy làm gì. (All day just swearing/vowing, never see any action.)
- Cam kết (v): To commit, to pledge (more formal, less solemn).
- Hứa (v): To promise (general term, less strong than "thề").
- Chửi thề (v): To curse, to swear (specifically for offensive language).
- Thề độc: To swear a solemn/oath, sometimes with a self-imposed curse for failure.
- Hắn thề độc sẽ trả thù. (He swore a solemn oath to get revenge.)
Thề cá trê chui ống: A drunkard's vow; a promise made while intoxicated and unlikely to be remembered or kept.
- Lời hứa của hắn chỉ là thề cá trê chui ống thôi. (His promise is just a drunkard's vow.)
Thề có quỷ thần chứng giám: To swear with gods and spirits as witnesses; to make a very solemn oath.
- Tôi thề có quỷ thần chứng giám tôi nói sự thật. (I swear with all the gods as my witnesses that I am telling the truth.)