yên phận
Definition
- Verb phrase:
- To be content with one's lot: To accept one's current situation, position, or status without complaint or ambition for change. It implies a sense of peaceful resignation and satisfaction with what one has.
Usage Examples
- Verb phrase:
- Sau nhiều biến cố, giờ ông ấy chỉ muốn yên phận sống ở quê. (After many upheavals, now he just wants to be content with his lot and live in the countryside.)
- Cô ấy là người biết yên phận, không mơ ước viển vông. (She is a person who knows how to be content with her situation and does not have unrealistic dreams.)
Advanced Usage
- The phrase often carries a moral or philosophical connotation, suggesting wisdom in accepting one's predetermined role or fate, sometimes as advised by traditional values.
Variants and Related Words
- An phận (verb phrase): This is a direct synonym with identical meaning and usage to .
- Hãy cứ an phận, đừng so bì với người khác. (Just be content with your lot; don't compare yourself to others.)
Synonyms
- To accept one's lot/fate: To acquiesce to one's circumstances.
- To be resigned to one's situation: To passively accept a condition.
- To be content with one's station: To be satisfied with one's social or personal position.
Related Idioms
- An phận thủ thường: To be content with one's lot and keep to old ways; to stick to the familiar and avoid change.
- Ông lão an phận thủ thường, sống trong ngôi nhà cũ cả đời. (The old man is content with his lot and sticks to his old ways, living in the same old house his whole life.)