thửa
Definition
Classifier:
- A plot or parcel of land: Used specifically to count and refer to a distinct, often cultivated, piece of land, such as a field or garden.
Verb (archaic/formal):
- To order or commission (goods): To request or have something made to one's specifications, typically by an artisan or shop.
Usage Examples
Classifier:
- Gia đình tôi có một thửa ruộng nhỏ. (My family has a small plot of rice field.)
- Anh ấy vừa mua hai thửa đất trên đồi. (He just bought two parcels of land on the hill.)
Verb:
- Bà ấy thửa một bộ bàn ghế gỗ tại làng nghề. (She commissioned a set of wooden tables and chairs from the craft village.)
- Ngày xưa, muốn may áo dài thì phải thửa vải rồi đem đến thợ. (In the old days, to have an áo dài made, you had to buy the fabric and then take it to a tailor.)
Advanced Usage
- The verbal usage is now less common in everyday speech and is often replaced by more modern verbs like (to order) or (to buy). It carries a formal or traditional nuance.
- As a classifier, thửa is almost exclusively used for land, implying a defined, separate unit, often for agricultural or legal purposes.
Variants and Related Words
Thửa ruộng (n): a rice paddy plot.
- Thửa ruộng ấy rất màu mỡ. (That rice paddy plot is very fertile.)
Thửa đất (n): a plot of land.
- Họ đang đo đạc thửa đất. (They are surveying the plot of land.)
Synonyms
- Classifier: parcel, plot, piece (of land).
- Verb (archaic): commission, order, bespeak.
Notes on Usage
- Thửa as a classifier is a standard term in administrative, legal, and agricultural contexts when discussing land division and ownership.
- The verbal meaning is largely historical or used in set phrases. Learners are more likely to encounter thửa as a classifier for land.