cắt quãng
Definition
- Verb:
- To interrupt / to break the continuity of something: The primary meaning of "cắt quãng" is to cause a pause or break in a continuous process, activity, or state.
- To intersperse: It can mean to insert intervals or breaks between parts of something.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- Tiếng chuông điện thoại cắt quãng buổi họp. (The ringing phone interrupted the meeting.)
- Cô ấy cắt quãng câu chuyện bằng một câu hỏi. (She interrupted the story with a question.)
- Những trận mưa lớn cắt quãng đợt nắng nóng. (The heavy rains interrupted the heatwave.)
Advanced Usage
- Used to describe an action or event that creates an intermittent or discontinuous pattern.
- Anh ấy chỉ có thể làm việc một cách cắt quãng vì liên tục bị làm phiền. (He could only work intermittently because he was constantly disturbed.)
Variants and Related Words
Gián đoạn (v): to disrupt, to cause an interruption. This is a close synonym, often more formal.
- Dịch bệnh đã gián đoạn việc học. (The pandemic disrupted schooling.)
Ngắt quãng (v): to be discontinuous, to be broken at intervals. This often describes the state rather than the action.
- Tín hiệu wifi bị ngắt quãng. (The wifi signal is intermittent.)
Synonyms
- Interrupt: To stop the continuous progress of an activity or process.
- Break up: To cause something to separate into intervals.
- Intersperse: To place things at intervals among other things.
Related Idioms
- While "cắt quãng" itself is not typically part of a fixed idiom, it describes the concept in common phrases.
- Nói chuyện cắt quãng: to speak intermittently or to keep interrupting a conversation.
- Đừng nói chuyện cắt quãng khi người khác đang trình bày. (Don't keep interrupting when others are presenting.)