Definition

1. Preposition:

   • Around / round: Indicates the area surrounding a central object, location, or point. It describes a circular or encompassing spatial relationship.
   • About / in the vicinity of: Refers to the general area nearby a specific place.

2. Adverb:

   • Around / about: Describes an action of moving in a circular path or looking in various directions within a nearby area.
   • Indirectly / in a roundabout way: Describes a manner of speaking or acting that is evasive, not direct or straightforward.

3. Verb (less common):

   • To go around / to circumvent: To move in a path that circles or bypasses something.

Usage Examples

• Preposition:

  • Chúng tôi ngồi quanh bàn. (We sat around the table.)
  • Có nhiều cây quanh nhà tôi. (There are many trees around my house.)

• Adverb:

  • Cô ấy nhìn quanh nhưng không thấy gì lạ. (She looked around but saw nothing strange.)
  • Đừng nói quanh nữa, hãy trả lời thẳng câu hỏi. (Stop speaking indirectly; answer the question directly.)

• Verb:

  • Con đường quanh qua ngọn đồi. (The road goes around the hill.)

Advanced Usage

• "quanh quẩn": to hang around, to linger in a place without purpose.

  • Nó chỉ quanh quẩn trong nhà cả ngày. (He just hangs around the house all day.)

• "quanh năm": all year round, throughout the year.

  • Thời tiết ở đây ấm áp quanh năm. (The weather here is warm all year round.)

Variants and Related Words

• Vòng quanh (phrase): around, in a circle around something.

  • Chúng tôi đi bộ vòng quanh hồ. (We walked around the lake.)

• Quanh co (adj): winding, meandering (for paths); evasive, roundabout (for speech).

  • Con đường này rất quanh co. (This road is very winding.)
  • Lời giải thích của anh ta thật quanh co. (His explanation was very evasive.)

Synonyms

• Around / round: encircling a point.
• About: in the nearby area.
• Indirectly: not in a straightforward manner.
• Circumvent: to go around.

Related Idioms

• Nói quanh nói quẩn: to beat around the bush, to speak evasively in circles.

  • Anh ấy cứ nói quanh nói quẩn mãi, không chịu vào vấn đề chính. (He keeps beating around the bush and won't get to the main point.)

• Loanh quanh luẩn quẩn: to go around in circles, to be stuck in a repetitive or unproductive cycle.

  • Công việc cứ loanh quanh luẩn quẩn mãi không xong. (The work just goes around in circles and never gets finished.)

conj

1. round
   • chúng tôi ngồi quanh bàn
     We sat down round the table

adv

1. roundabout
   • chối quanh
     to deny in a roundabout way