dừng bước
Definition
- Verb phrase:
- To stop walking; to halt one's steps: The primary meaning is to cease moving forward on foot, to pause while walking or traveling.
- To stop; to cease; to halt: Used more broadly to indicate stopping an action, progress, or journey, often implying a temporary or thoughtful pause.
Usage Examples
- Verb phrase:
- Anh ấy dừng bước trước một cửa hàng sách. (He stopped walking in front of a bookstore.)
- Xin hãy dừng bước một chút để lắng nghe. (Please stop for a moment to listen.)
- Chúng tôi dừng bước nghỉ ngơi dưới một gốc cây. (We stopped to rest under a tree.)
Advanced Usage
"dừng bước chân": A slightly more poetic variant emphasizing the stopping of one's feet.
- Nàng dừng bước chân, quay lại nhìn. (She stopped in her tracks and turned to look.)
Used in literary or formal contexts to convey a deliberate, often reflective pause during movement.
- Trên đường đời, đôi khi ta cần dừng bước để suy ngẫm. (On life's journey, sometimes we need to stop and reflect.)
Variants and Related Words
- Dừng lại (verb): To stop, to halt. A more general and common synonym.
- Đỗ lại (verb): To stop (often used for vehicles).
- Nghỉ chân (verb phrase): To rest one's feet, to take a break during a journey.
Synonyms
- Ngừng lại: To cease, to stop.
- Tạm dừng: To pause temporarily.
- Đứng lại: To stand still, to stop.
Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)
Note: As a verb phrase itself, 'dừng bước' functions as a unit. Related constructions are idiomatic. - Dừng bước giữa đường: To stop midway; to abandon something before completion. - Đừng dừng bước giữa đường khi mục tiêu đã gần. (Don't stop midway when the goal is near.)
Related Idioms
- Dừng bước thư sinh: A classical literary idiom describing a scholar stopping (often to admire scenery or compose poetry).
- Cảnh đẹp khiến lữ khách dừng bước thư sinh. (The beautiful scenery made the traveler stop like a admiring scholar.)