Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To drop out of school prematurely to seek employment: The primary meaning refers to the act of leaving one's formal education before completion in order to find a job or pursue a trade.
   • To interrupt / to disrupt: A secondary, more literal meaning is to break into or disrupt an ongoing process, conversation, or activity.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Nó quyết định phá ngang đại học để đi làm phụ gia đình. (He decided to drop out of university to work and support his family.)
  • Cô ấy đang nói thì bị một người phá ngang. (She was speaking when someone interrupted her.)
  • Việc học nghề sớm đôi khi là lý do khiến học sinh phá ngang. (Early vocational training is sometimes a reason students drop out.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase often carries a negative connotation, implying a sudden or unplanned abandonment of studies, potentially leading to limited future opportunities.
• It can be used in broader contexts beyond education to describe disrupting any linear process or plan.

Variants and Related Words

• Bỏ học giữa chừng (verb phrase): to quit school midway. A more neutral synonym for the educational sense.
  • Áp lực tài chính khiến nhiều sinh viên bỏ học giữa chừng. (Financial pressure causes many students to quit school midway.)

Synonyms

• To drop out: to leave a course of study before completion.
• To interrupt: to stop the continuous progress of an activity.
• To disrupt: to cause disorder or interrupt an event.

Related Idioms

• Phá đám: to spoil, to wreck (an event or atmosphere). This shares the disruptive sense but is not specific to education.

  • Đừng có đến phá đám bữa tiệc. (Don't come and spoil the party.)

• Bỏ dở: to leave something unfinished. This can apply to studies, projects, or tasks.

  • Anh ấy bỏ dở công việc đang làm dở. (He left the unfinished work unfinished.)

1. Drop out of school and look for a job, be a drop-out