tự tân
Definition
- Verb (archaic/literary):
- To reform oneself; to correct one's own faults: The act of consciously amending one's own mistakes or improving one's own character and behavior.
- To self-renew; to make a fresh start: To undertake a personal transformation or moral renovation.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- Sau một biến cố, ông ấy quyết tâm tự tân. (After a life-altering event, he was determined to reform himself.)
- Tự tân là bước đầu tiên để tiến bộ. (Self-renewal is the first step toward progress.)
- Anh ta hứa sẽ tự tân và không phạm lỗi cũ nữa. (He promised to amend his ways and not repeat his old mistakes.)
Advanced Usage
- This term is primarily used in formal, literary, or moralistic contexts. It often carries a weight of sincere, profound, and deliberate personal change, sometimes with a philosophical or Confucian undertone.
Variants and Related Words
Tự cải (v): to self-correct; to improve oneself.
- Mỗi người cần biết tự cải để hoàn thiện. (Everyone needs to know how to self-correct to perfect themselves.)
Tự sửa (v): to fix oneself; to correct oneself (more common in modern speech for minor corrections).
- Em phải tự sửa thói quen xấu đó. (You must correct that bad habit yourself.)
Synonyms
- Reform oneself: To change for the better.
- Mend one's ways: To improve one's behavior.
- Self-amendment: The act of correcting oneself.
Related Idioms
- Tự giác tự tân: To be self-aware and self-renewing; to consciously and voluntarily reform.
- Con người ấy có tinh thần tự giác tự tân đáng khâm phục. (That person has an admirable spirit of conscious self-renewal.)