Definitions

1. Noun:
   • Step, stair: A single flat surface in a series that allows movement from one level to another, typically in a staircase or on a slope.
   • Tier, level, echelon: A stage or rank in a hierarchical system, such as in a career, social status, or progression.
   • Terrace (in agriculture): A flat, step-like area cut into a hillside for farming, preventing soil erosion.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Cầu thang này có 20 bậc thang. (This staircase has 20 steps.)
  • Anh ấy đã leo lên những bậc thang danh vọng một cách nhanh chóng. (He quickly climbed the echelons of fame.)
  • Những thửa ruộng bậc thang ở Sa Pa rất đẹp. (The terraced fields in Sa Pa are very beautiful.)

Advanced Usage

• "bậc thang xã hội": social ladder/stratum.
  • Ông ấy nghiên cứu về sự di chuyển giữa các bậc thang xã hội. (He studies mobility between social strata.)
• "bậc thang giá trị": scale of values, value tier.
  • Sản phẩm này nhắm đến bậc thang giá trị cao cấp. (This product targets the premium value tier.)

Variants and Related Words

• Bậc (n): Can be used alone to mean "step", "grade", or "class". Often part of compound words.
  • bậc thầy (master, expert)
  • bậc cửa (doorstep)
  • bậc lương (salary grade)
• Thang (n): Ladder. While "thang" alone means "ladder", in "bậc thang" it combines with "bậc" to specifically mean the steps themselves.
  • thang máy (elevator/lift)
  • thang gác (loft ladder)

Synonyms

• Bước (n): Step (more general, can mean a footstep or a stage in a process).
• Nấc (n): Notch, rung (often used for ladder rungs or metaphorical levels, e.g., – synonym for ).
• Tầng (n): Floor, layer, tier (refers to a whole level, not an individual step).
• Cấp (n): Level, rank, grade (used for administrative or hierarchical levels).

Related Phrases (No direct phrasal verb equivalent in Vietnamese)

• Leo lên từng bậc thang: To climb step by step (to advance gradually).
  • Cô ấy leo lên từng bậc thang trong sự nghiệp. (She climbed the career ladder step by step.)
• Bước lên bậc thang: To step onto a step (literal) or to enter a new level (figurative).
  • Bước lên bậc thang đầu tiên của sự thành công. (To step onto the first rung of success.)

Related Idioms

• "Bậc thang cuộc đời": The ladder of life (metaphor for life's stages or social progression).
  • Ai cũng phải trải qua những bậc thang cuộc đời. (Everyone must go through the stages of life.)
• "Ở bậc thang dưới": To be on a lower rung/level (socially, economically).
  • Những người ở bậc thang dưới cần nhiều sự hỗ trợ hơn. (Those on the lower rungs need more support.)