Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Giữ người ở, ai giữ được người đi

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

It's hard to keep someone who wants to leave

Literally: Keep the person staying, who keeps the person going

Examples

Anh ấy đã cố gắng giữ mối quan hệ, nhưng như người ta nói: giữ người ở, ai giữ được người điHe tried to maintain the relationship, but as people say: keep the person staying, who keeps the person going

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Headword listed in the vdict.com proverb dictionary index (discovery source; headword only — no source content copied). Entered as candidate 2026-08-05; definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-06; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “Giữ người ở, ai giữ được người đi” mean?

It's hard to keep someone who wants to leave Literally: Keep the person staying, who keeps the person going

Is “Giữ người ở, ai giữ được người đi” formal or informal?

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

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