vỏn vẹn
Definition
- Adverb:
- Only / merely / just: Used to emphasize that an amount, number, or extent is surprisingly, notably, or disappointingly small. It conveys a sense of "nothing more than" or "a scant."
- Exactly / precisely: In some contexts, it can stress the exactness of a small, often insufficient, figure.
Usage Examples
- Adverb:
- Họ chỉ có vỏn vẹn ba ngày để hoàn thành dự án. (They had only three days to complete the project.)
- Tài khoản của tôi còn vỏn vẹn một trăm nghìn đồng. (My account has merely one hundred thousand dong left.)
- Cả làng vỏn vẹn mười hộ gia đình. (The whole village consists of precisely ten households.)
Advanced Usage
- The word is often used with numbers or quantities to underscore their insignificance or limitation. It carries a slight emotional tone, which can be of regret, criticism, or simple factual emphasis on smallness.
- Sự chênh lệch vỏn vẹn một điểm. (The difference was a mere one point.)
Variants and Related Words
- Chỉ (adv): only, just. (A more neutral and common synonym without the emphatic nuance of smallness.)
- Mới (adv): only, just. (Often used with time or recent actions.)
Synonyms
- Only: for the sole reason of or being the single one.
- Merely: just; only.
- Scarcely: only just; almost not.
- A mere: used to emphasize how small or insignificant someone or something is.
Related Idioms
- While "vỏn vẹn" itself is not typically part of a longer idiom, its function is idiomatic in emphasizing meagerness. A related conceptual phrase is:
- Chỉ có thế: Is that all? / That's it?
- Cả gia tài chỉ có thế? (Is that all the entire fortune is?)