Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Không thẳng tay gầu, nước đâu lên tới ruộng

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

If you don't put in effort, you won't achieve anything

Literally: Not straightening your arm to scoop, water won't reach the field

Examples

Anh ấy không chịu học nên không đạt được kết quả tốt, không thẳng tay gầu, nước đâu lên tới ruộngHe didn't study hard, so he didn't get good results, if you don't put in effort, you won't achieve anything

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 “Không thẳng tay gầu, nước đâu lên tới ruộng” mean?

If you don't put in effort, you won't achieve anything Literally: Not straightening your arm to scoop, water won't reach the field

Is “Không thẳng tay gầu, nước đâu lên tới ruộng” formal or informal?

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

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