Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Rough, preliminary, cursory: Describes something done or considered without detail, depth, or thoroughness; only covering the main points or initial aspects.

2. Adverb:

   • Roughly, cursorily, preliminarily: Describes the manner of doing something in a quick, non-detailed way; a first or superficial pass.

Usage Examples

• As an adjective:

  • Đây chỉ là bản kế hoạch sơ qua. (This is only a rough draft of the plan.)
  • Anh ấy có một hiểu biết sơ qua về chủ đề này. (He has a cursory understanding of this topic.)

• As an adverb:

  • Chúng tôi đã kiểm tra sơ qua các tài liệu. (We checked the documents roughly.)
  • Cô ấy trình bày sơ qua ý tưởng của mình. (She presented her idea preliminarily.)

Advanced Usage

• Often used to indicate a first step or initial assessment, implying that a more detailed examination will or should follow.
• Commonly paired with verbs like (to check), (to consider), (to present), (to learn about).

Variants and Related Words

• Sơ bộ (adj, adv): preliminary, initially. Often interchangeable with sơ qua, but sơ bộ can sound slightly more formal or systematic.

  • Kết quả sơ bộ (Preliminary results).

• Qua loa (adj, adv): perfunctory, superficially. Similar to sơ qua but can carry a more negative connotation of being careless or done merely for the sake of doing it.

Synonyms

• Preliminary: initial, preparatory.
• Cursory: hasty, brief, superficial.
• Rough: approximate, not detailed.

Related Phrases

• Nhìn sơ qua: to glance over, to take a quick look.

  • Tôi chỉ nhìn sơ qua báo cáo. (I only glanced over the report.)

• Đọc sơ qua: to skim, to read quickly.

  • Hãy đọc sơ qua chương này. (Please skim this chapter.)

adj, adv rough, roughly