khôn

Cannot (Archaic)

Level 6

Khôn is an archaic word meaning "cannot" or "unable to" (equivalent to modern không thể). Today, it is no longer used as a general grammar rule, but survives in a few highly common fixed phrases to describe things that surpass human capacity.

How It Works

While khôn meaning "cannot" or "hard to" is obsolete as a standalone, productive grammar rule, the fixed phrases it formed are highly frequent in modern journalism, literature, formal speeches, and educated daily conversation.

Here are the most common fixed collocations you must know:

  • khôn lường: unpredictable / unfathomable (literally: cannot measure). Essentially means không thể lường trước. A standard fixed four-word idiom is biến hóa khôn lường (unpredictably changing / ever-changing).
  • khôn tả: indescribable (literally: cannot describe)
  • khôn xiết: immeasurable / beyond measure (literally: cannot exhaust)
  • khôn nguôi: unsubsiding / unforgettable (literally: cannot subside). Often pairs with lingering emotions such as nhớ (to miss), nỗi đau (pain), day dứt (torment), ân hận (regret), tiếc thương (grief/mourning), and khát khao (yearning).
  • khôn cầm: unable to hold back (literally: cannot hold). Pairs with nước mắt (tears), xúc động (emotion), or lòng (khôn cầm lòng). The phrase was cemented by Nguyễn Du's Truyện Kiều ("Giọt châu lã chã khôn cầm").
  • khôn cùng: endless / boundless (literally: cannot end)
  • khôn cưỡng: irresistible (literally: cannot resist)
  • khôn kham: unbearable / unable to bear
  • khôn sánh / khôn ví: incomparable / beyond compare
  • khôn dò: unfathomable (literally: cannot fathom)
  • khôn lấp: unfillable (literally: cannot fill)
  • khôn vơi: unsubsiding (literally: cannot lessen)

Syntactic Position:
These fixed phrases function as adjectival or verbal phrases used both attributively (placed directly after a noun, verb, or adjective, e.g., hậu quả khôn lường - unpredictable consequences, or vui sướng khôn xiết - immeasurably joyful) and predicatively (as the main description in a sentence, e.g., Hậu quả của việc này thật khôn lường.).

Important Distinctions:
1. Not a typo: It is a common misconception that khôn lường is a typo for không lường (missing the 'g'). Khôn is a distinct, historically attested lexical item found in 15th-century texts (such as the poetry of Nguyễn Trãi), not a modern spelling error.
2. Not the adjective "smart": Do not confuse this archaic negative adverb with the modern everyday homophone khôn (smart/cunning). The difference is both syntactic and semantic.
3. Not "cannot grow": Be careful with the extremely common phrase khôn lớn (to grow up / mature). Here, khôn is the modern adjective (smart/mature), not the archaic "cannot". Therefore, khôn lớn means "to grow up and mature", not "cannot grow".
4. Tone and Usage: These phrases carry a formal, literary, or highly dramatic and emotional tone. They should be reserved for significant events or profound feelings. Do not use them for trivial, everyday occurrences (e.g., do not use vui sướng khôn xiết just because you found a dollar on the sidewalk).

Examples (5)

  1. Hành động của anh ta có thể gây ra những hậu quả khôn lường.

    His actions could cause unpredictable consequences.

    Word by Word: Action of him can cause plural consequence cannot measure.

    The phrase 'hậu quả khôn lường' is a highly common cliché in journalism and formal speech.

  2. Khi nghe tin con đỗ đại học, bà mẹ vui sướng khôn tả.

    Upon hearing the news that her child passed the university entrance exam, the mother was indescribably overjoyed.

    Word by Word: When hear news child pass university, grandmother mother rejoice cannot describe.

    'Khôn tả' is used because the emotion is too profound to be captured in words.

  3. Gia đình chúng tôi vô cùng thương tiếc và biết ơn khôn xiết.

    Our family is deeply mournful and immeasurably grateful.

    Word by Word: Family our infinitely mourn and grateful cannot exhaust.

    'Khôn xiết' is frequently used in formal thank-you notes or eulogies to express boundless gratitude or sorrow.

  4. Nỗi nhớ quê hương khôn nguôi luôn thường trực trong lòng anh.

    The unsubsiding nostalgia for his hometown is always present in his heart.

    Word by Word: Sorrow miss hometown cannot subside always permanent inside heart him.

    'Khôn nguôi' describes an emotion or memory that refuses to fade or calm down.

  5. Nhìn cảnh tượng ấy, tôi khôn cầm được nước mắt.

    Looking at that scene, I could not hold back my tears.

    Word by Word: Look scene that, I cannot hold manage water eye.

    'Khôn cầm' is a literary way to say one is unable to restrain their emotions or tears.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'khôn' productively as a general replacement for 'cannot' with everyday verbs.

    Tôi khôn đi làm hôm nay vì bị ốm.
    Tôi không thể đi làm hôm nay vì bị ốm.

    As a productive grammar rule, 'khôn' meaning 'cannot' is entirely obsolete. You cannot attach it to everyday action verbs like 'đi' (to go) or 'ăn' (to eat). For general inability, you must use không thể. 'Khôn' only survives in fixed historical compounds.

  • Mistranslating the phrase by confusing it with the modern adjective 'khôn' (smart).

    Anh ấy tính toán rất khôn lường.
    Hậu quả của việc này thật khôn lường.

    Because learners know 'khôn' as 'smart', they often guess that 'khôn lường' means 'smartly measuring' or 'cleverly predicting'. In these specific compounds, 'khôn' is an archaic word meaning 'impossible to', so 'khôn lường' means 'unfathomable' or 'unpredictable'.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

khônLevel 6Cannot (Archaic)

Learn This First

The pattern 'khôn' is a high-level, archaic negator meaning 'cannot' or 'difficult to'. To understand it, learners should already be familiar with standard negation, the nature of Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary (as 'khôn' usually pairs with Sino-Vietnamese roots like 'lường' or 'xiết'), and the stylistic difference between modern spoken Vietnamese and formal literary Vietnamese.

Words in This Pattern

khôn