Definition

1. Verb:

   • To break: To cause something to separate into pieces suddenly or violently, ending its physical wholeness.
   • To break through / to breach: To force a way through a barrier, obstacle, or defensive line.
   • To destroy / to shatter: To completely ruin the structure, integrity, or continuity of something, often something abstract like a plan, a record, or a state.

2. Verb (extended usage):

   • To disrupt: To interrupt the normal progress or unity of a situation, system, or relationship.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Cơn bão đã phá vỡ cửa sổ. (The storm broke the window.)
  • Quân đội phá vỡ phòng tuyến của địch. (The army broke through the enemy's defensive line.)
  • Tin đó phá vỡ sự yên tĩnh của buổi sáng. (That news shattered the peace of the morning.)
  • Họ phá vỡ kỷ lục thế giới. (They broke the world record.)

Advanced Usage

• "phá vỡ thế bế tắc": to break a deadlock/impasse.

  • Cuộc đàm phán mới hy vọng sẽ phá vỡ thế bế tắc. (The new negotiation hopes to break the deadlock.)

• "phá vỡ sự im lặng": to break the silence.

  • Cô ấy là người đầu tiên phá vỡ sự im lặng. (She was the first to break the silence.)

Variants and Related Words

• Phá (v): to destroy, to demolish. Has a broader sense of destruction.

  • Phá một tòa nhà cũ. (To demolish an old building.)

• Vỡ (v): to break, to shatter (often intransitive, describing the state of breaking).

  • Cái ly rơi xuống đất và vỡ. (The cup fell to the ground and shattered.)

Synonyms

• Break: The most general synonym for causing something to separate into pieces.
• Shatter: To break suddenly and violently into many pieces.
• Breach: To make a gap in and break through a barrier.
• Destroy: To put an end to the existence of something by damaging or attacking it.

Related Idioms

• Phá vỡ khuôn mẫu: to break the mold; to do something in a new and different way.

  • Nhà thiết kế trẻ luôn muốn phá vỡ khuôn mẫu. (The young designer always wants to break the mold.)

• Phá vỡ không khí căng thẳng: to break the tension.

  • Một câu nói đùa có thể phá vỡ không khí căng thẳng. (A joke can break the tension.)

1. Break through