Definition

1. Verb phrase:

   • To cross the street/road: The action of moving from one side of a street or road to the other.
   • To pass by on the road: To travel along or pass a road (less common in modern usage).

2. Noun phrase:

   • Passer-by, pedestrian: A person who is walking past, especially on a street or road. Often used in the compound form "khách qua đường".

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase (to cross): Hãy nhìn trái nhìn phải trước khi qua đường. (Look left and right before crossing the street.) Trẻ em nên được người lớn dắt khi qua đường. (Children should be held by an adult when crossing the road.)

• Noun phrase (passer-by): Một khách qua đường đã giúp tôi sửa chiếc xe. (A passer-by helped me fix my bike.) Tiếng còi xe khiến các khách qua đường giật mình. (The car horn startled the pedestrians.)

Advanced Usage

• "đi qua đường": A more explicit form meaning "to go across the road". Chúng tôi phải đi qua đường để đến siêu thị. (We have to go across the road to get to the supermarket.)

• "băng qua đường": To dash or cut across the street, often implying a quicker or less careful crossing. Anh ấy băng qua đường mà không nhìn. (He dashed across the street without looking.)

Variants and Related Words

• Khách qua đường (n): The standard compound noun for "passer-by" or "pedestrian".
• Lối qua đường (n): Crossing, passageway (e.g., crosswalk, pedestrian crossing).
• Qua lại (v): To go back and forth, to commute.
• Đường bộ (n): Road, roadway (as opposed to水路 - waterway).

Synonyms

• Băng qua (đường) (v): To cross (the street).
• Người đi đường (n): Person on the road, traveler, passer-by.
• Người đi bộ (n): Pedestrian, walker.

Related Phrases

• Vạch qua đường (n): Crosswalk, zebra crossing. Hãy đi trên vạch qua đường cho an toàn. (Please walk on the crosswalk for safety.)

• Cầu vượt qua đường (n): Footbridge, pedestrian overpass.

• Đèn báo qua đường (n): Pedestrian crossing signal.

Related Idioms

• "Ngang qua đường": To go horizontally across the road. Chiếc lá ngang qua đường trước đầu xe tôi. (A leaf blew across the road in front of my car.)

• "Qua đường rồi mới sợ cọp" (Idiom): Literally "to be afraid of the tiger only after crossing the road". Means to be cautious or fearful only after the danger has passed; similar to "closing the stable door after the horse has bolted".

1. Khách qua đường
2. Passer-by