can

/kæn/

Thân thiện

Một người đàn ông cầm một can nhựa màu xanh để đổ nước vào bình.

Definition

1. Noun:

   • Container: A vessel, typically made of plastic or metal, with a small opening, a lid, and a handle, used for holding liquids. For example, an oil can or a water can.
   • Cane / Walking Stick: A short stick, often made of rattan or wood, used for support when walking.
   • Heavenly Stem: In traditional East Asian cosmology, one of the ten celestial stems (Giáp, Ất, Bính, Đinh, Mậu, Kỷ, Canh, Tân, Nhâm, Quý) used in combination with the twelve earthly branches to count years, months, and days.

2. Verb:

   • To Intervene / To Restrain: To step in to stop a fight or conflict, to separate people who are fighting.
   • To Advise Against / To Dissuade: To counsel someone not to do something; to try to prevent an action by giving advice.
   • To Lengthen or Broaden: To extend a piece of fabric, paper, or clothing by adding a piece of the same material, such as letting down a hem.
   • To Trace: To copy a drawing or map by placing paper over it and following the visible lines.
   • To Be Involved / To Be Implicated: To have a part in or be connected to an affair, often with negative connotations like being guilty of a crime.
   • (In negative or interrogative constructions) To Concern / To Affect: To have a direct relation to, to be the business of, or to impact someone or something.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Anh ấy mua một can nước năm lít. (He bought a five-liter water can.)
  • Cụ già chống can khi đi bộ. (The old man uses a cane when walking.)
• Verb:
  • Cảnh sát phải can hai người đàn ông đánh nhau. (The police had to intervene in a fight between two men.)
  • Tôi can anh đừng đầu tư vào dự án mạo hiểm đó. (I advise you against investing in that risky project.)
  • Chiếc váy ngắn quá, cô ấy định can thêm một gấu. (The dress is too short; she intends to lengthen it by adding a hem.)
  • Hắn can vào vụ án tham nhũng. (He is implicated in the corruption case.)
  • Chuyện này chẳng can gì đến bạn. (This matter does not concern you at all.)

Advanced Usage

• "can thiệp": to intervene (often used in formal or political contexts).
  • Liên Hợp Quốc can thiệp vào cuộc khủng hoảng. (The United Nations intervened in the crisis.)
• "can tội": to be guilty of a crime.
  • Bị cáo can tội cướp tài sản. (The defendant is guilty of robbery.)

Variants and Related Words

• Can ke (v): A variant of "can" meaning to trace.
• Can ngăn (v): to prevent, to dissuade, to stop someone.
  • Không ai can ngăn được quyết định của anh ta. (No one could dissuade him from his decision.)

Synonyms

• Container: jerrycan, pail.
• To Intervene: to intercede, to step in, to separate.
• To Advise Against: to discourage, to deter.
• To Be Involved: to be connected, to be a party to.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Chẳng can gì / Không can gì: It doesn't matter; it's of no consequence; it's none of your business.
  • Anh cứ nói đi, chẳng can gì. (Just say it, it doesn't matter.)
• Can gì đến...?: What does it have to do with...?
  • Can gì đến tôi? (What does it have to do with me?)

Học thuật

noun

1. Walking-stick
2. Heaven's stem
3. Can
   • can đựng dầu
     an oil-can

verb

1. To lengthen, to broaden (cloth, paper) with bits of same material
   • can thêm một gấu áo
     to lengthen a dress by a hemfold breadth, to lower the hemline by a hemfold breadth
2. To advise (someone) against doing something; to dissuade (someone) from doing something; to restrain
   • thấy có đám xô xát, nhảy vào can cả đôi bên
     to jump into a scuffle and restrain both sides
   • anh đừng đánh nó, tôi can anh
     I advise you against beating him; don't beat him, please