Definition

1. Verb:
   • To trip, to misstep: To accidentally step into a low or unstable spot, lose one's footing, and fall. It literally describes a physical stumble.
   • To slip into, to fall into (a bad situation): Often used figuratively to describe inadvertently getting involved in or falling into an unfavorable, difficult, or morally compromised situation.

Usage Examples

• Literal meaning (to trip):

  • Trời tối, anh ấy đã sa chân xuống mương. (It was dark, and he tripped into the ditch.)
  • Cẩn thận kẻo sa chân đấy! (Be careful, or you'll trip!)

• Figurative meaning (to fall into a bad situation):

  • Chỉ vì một phút nông nổi, cô ấy đã sa chân vào con đường nghiện ngập. (Because of a moment of recklessness, she fell into the path of addiction.)
  • Nhiều thanh niên sa chân vào các tệ nạn xã hội. (Many young people slip into social vices.)

Advanced Usage

• The figurative usage is very common and carries a connotation of regret, misfortune, or moral decline. It implies the situation was entered unintentionally or due to a lapse in judgment.
• It is often used in contexts involving crime, vice, poverty, or moral downfall.
  • sa chân lỡ bước: A common paired phrase emphasizing a mistaken step or a wrong turn in life's path.

    • Sa chân lỡ bước vào chốn ăn chơi. (To mistakenly step into a life of debauchery.)

Variants and Related Words

• Vấp (v): To stumble, to trip (more purely physical, less severe or figurative than ).
• Trượt chân (v): To slip (physically). Can sometimes be used figuratively but is less common than .
• Sa ngã (v): To fall, to degenerate (morally or spiritually). Stronger and more explicitly moral in tone than .

Synonyms

• Mắc phải: To incur, to fall victim to (something negative).
• Lâm vào: To fall into (a state or situation, often difficult).
• Rơi vào: To fall into.

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Sa chân vào: The full phrase used with the figurative meaning, followed by the negative situation.
  • Anh ta đã sa chân vào vòng lao lý. (He fell into the clutches of the law.)

Related Idioms

• While itself is often used in figurative expressions, a closely related concept is:
  • Một bước sa chân, ngàn đời ân hận: (One misstep, eternal regret.) This proverb highlights the lasting consequences of a single mistake.

1. to trip
   • sa chân xuống hố
     to trip into a hole