phạm luật
Definition
- Verb:
- To break the law / to violate the law: To act in a way that is against the official rules or laws established by an authority.
- To commit an infraction / to commit a violation: To fail to comply with a specific rule, regulation, or statute.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- Lái xe quá tốc độ là phạm luật. (Driving over the speed limit is breaking the law.)
- Công ty đó đã phạm luật lao động. (That company violated labor law.)
- Cầu thủ đó phạm luật và bị thẻ vàng. (That player committed a foul and received a yellow card.)
Advanced Usage
- The phrase is often used in formal, legal, and administrative contexts to describe illegal actions, ranging from minor traffic violations to serious criminal offenses.
- It can be used in sports to describe rule-breaking, often translated as "to commit a foul" or "to commit an infraction."
Variants and Related Words
- Vi phạm (v): to infringe, to violate. This is a very close synonym, often used interchangeably with "phạm luật" but can be slightly more formal and broader.
- Vi phạm hợp đồng. (To breach a contract.)
- Phạm tội (v): to commit a crime. This specifies a more serious violation, typically of criminal law.
- Phạm tội giết người. (To commit murder.)
Synonyms
- To break the law: The most direct and common translation.
- To violate the law: A more formal equivalent.
- To commit an offense: To do something that is against the rules.
- To infringe the law: A more legalistic term.
Related Idioms
- Phạm luật như cơm bữa: To break the law regularly, as commonly as eating daily meals. This idiom describes habitual law-breaking.
- Tên trộm đó phạm luật như cơm bữa. (That thief breaks the law as regularly as he eats.)