Tiếng Việt · Proverb Attested

gắng công mài sắt, chầy ngày nên kim

🎙 Say it

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

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Grind the iron long enough and it becomes a needle — patience is the whole of the craft.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Kiên nhẫn là toàn bộ kỹ năng

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: strive to grind iron; slow days make the needle

Examples

Cứ luyện đi, gắng công mài sắt chầy ngày nên kim.Keep practicing — iron ground long enough becomes a needle.

Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)

Sources & notes

Discovered via Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.

Common questions

What does “gắng công mài sắt, chầy ngày nên kim” mean?

Grind the iron long enough and it becomes a needle — patience is the whole of the craft. Literally: strive to grind iron; slow days make the needle

Is “gắng công mài sắt, chầy ngày nên kim” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

👁 Views 0 today 0 past 7 days 0 this month 0 all time