Tiếng Việt · Proverb Attested

gần mực thì đen, gần đèn thì sáng

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In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Also seen as: gần mực thì đen, gần đèn thì rạng

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

You take on the character of the company you keep — bad company corrupts, good company uplifts.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Tính cách bị ảnh hưởng bởi những người xung quanh

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: Near ink you turn black; near the lamp you shine.

How to use it

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Advising about friendships and environments, especially to young people.

Where it’s used: Used Toàn quốc & hải ngoại · Vietnam-wide & diaspora More common Miền Bắc · Northern Vietnam • the “gần đèn thì rạng” variant is more common in the North

Examples

Chọn bạn mà chơi — gần mực thì đen, gần đèn thì sáng.Choose your friends carefully — near ink you blacken, near a lamp you brighten.

Editorial example (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Common questions

What does “gần mực thì đen, gần đèn thì sáng” mean?

You take on the character of the company you keep — bad company corrupts, good company uplifts. Literally: Near ink you turn black; near the lamp you shine.

Is “gần mực thì đen, gần đèn thì sáng” formal or informal?

gần mực thì đen, gần đèn thì sáng is generally neutral; connotation: advisory.

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