Definition

1. Adverb:
   • In the act, red-handed: Used to describe catching someone while they are committing an illegal or wrongful act, with clear evidence.
   • In flagrante delicto: A formal legal term meaning "in blazing offense," used to indicate being caught during the commission of a crime.

Usage Examples

• Adverb:
  • Tên trộm bị bắt quả tang khi đang mở két sắt. (The thief was caught red-handed while opening the safe.)
  • Cảnh sát phát hiện vụ buôn lậu quả tang. (The police discovered the smuggling operation in the act.)
  • Anh ta bị quay phim quả tang đang nhận hối lộ. (He was filmed in flagrante delicto while accepting a bribe.)

Advanced Usage

• "Bắt quả tang": This is the most common collocation, meaning "to catch red-handed" or "to catch in the act." It functions as a phrasal verb.
  • Họ lập kế hoạch để bắt quả tang kẻ phá hoại. (They planned to catch the vandal red-handed.)
• "Hành vi phạm tội quả tang": A legal phrase meaning "an act of flagrant crime."
  • Bị cáo bị buộc tội vì hành vi phạm tội quả tang. (The defendant was charged with an act of flagrant crime.)

Variants and Related Words

• Quả tang is primarily used as an adverb. There is no direct adjective form. The related concept is expressed through the verb phrase "bắt quả tang."
• Tại trận (adv): On the spot, at the scene. This can be similar but is broader and not exclusively for catching someone in a wrongful act.
  • Anh ấy bị thương tại trận. (He was injured on the spot.)

Synonyms

• Tại trận: On the spot, at the scene (context-dependent).
• Đúng lúc: At the right moment (less specific, but can be used in similar contexts of catching someone).

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Bắt quả tang: To catch red-handed, to catch in the act. This is the essential phrase where "quả tang" is used.
  • Người hàng xóm bắt quả tang con mèo đang bắt chim của bà. (The neighbor caught the cat red-handed catching her bird.)

Related Idioms

• "Bắt tận tay, day tận trán": An idiom meaning to catch someone with undeniable, irrefutable evidence, similar to "caught red-handed" but more vivid (literally: to catch their hand and press it to their forehead).
  • Hắn không thể chối cãi vì đã bị bắt tận tay, day tận trán. (He couldn't deny it because he was caught with irrefutable evidence.)

1. flugrant
   • bị bắt quả tang
     to be caught in flagrant delict