tối ngày
Definition
- Adverb:
- Day and night / all day and all night: This compound adverb describes an action that occurs continuously throughout both the daytime and the nighttime, emphasizing a long, unbroken duration or constant effort.
Usage Examples
- Adverb:
- Ông ấy làm việc tối ngày để nuôi gia đình. (He works day and night to support his family.)
- Máy móc ở nhà máy chạy tối ngày. (The machinery at the factory runs around the clock.)
- Cô ấy lo lắng tối ngày cho sức khỏe của con. (She worries day and night about her child's health.)
Advanced Usage
- The phrase is often used to emphasize relentless, non-stop activity, sometimes implying hardship or excessive work.
- Sau trận lũ, dân làng tối ngày khắc phục hậu quả. (After the flood, the villagers worked day and night to deal with the aftermath.)
Variants and Related Words
Ngày đêm (adv): A direct synonym, also meaning "day and night."
- Anh ấy thức ngày đêm chăm sóc mẹ ốm. (He stayed awake day and night caring for his sick mother.)
Suốt ngày đêm (adv): Literally "throughout the day and night," adding emphasis on the complete, uninterrupted span.
- Tiếng ồn từ công trường vang lên suốt ngày đêm. (Noise from the construction site sounded throughout the day and night.)
Synonyms
- Day and night: Continuously, without stopping.
- Around the clock: At all hours, continuously (often for operations).
- Night and day: Constantly, incessantly.
Related Idioms
- Đầu tắt mặt tối: An idiom describing a state of being extremely busy from morning till night, to the point of exhaustion. It conveys a stronger sense of hardship than "tối ngày."
- Mẹ tôi đầu tắt mặt tối với công việc đồng áng. (My mother is endlessly toiling from dawn till dusk with farm work.)