Definition

1. Verb:
   • To cross (a river, road, or similar obstacle): Refers to the action of moving from one side to the other, typically across a body of water like a river or a street.
   • To marry across (social or familial lines, often reluctantly): A figurative and somewhat poetic usage, describing a woman's marriage, often implying it was a forced or undesirable match, "crossing over" into married life.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Chúng tôi đợi đò để sang ngang sông. (We waited for the ferry to cross the river.)
  • Hãy nhìn trái, phải trước khi sang ngang đường. (Look left and right before you cross the street.)
  • Trong bài thơ, bà ấy được miêu tả là đã lỡ bước sang ngang. (In the poem, she is described as having taken the step to marry [unhappily].)

Advanced Usage

• "Lỡ bước sang ngang": A fixed literary phrase meaning "to have taken the misstep of marrying" (often used for a woman), carrying a strong connotation of regret, fate, or a marriage entered into out of necessity rather than love.
  • Câu chuyện kể về số phận của những người phụ nữ lỡ bước sang ngang. (The story tells the fate of women who unhappily married.)

Variants and Related Words

• Sang (verb): To go over/across; to transfer.
  • sang sông (to cross the river), sang nhà (to go over to someone's house).
• Ngang (adjective/adverb): Horizontal; sideways; across.
  • đường ngang (a cross street), kẻ ngang (to draw a horizontal line).

Synonyms

• Qua (verb): To go over/across. (More general than ).
  • qua sông (to cross the river).
• Băng qua (verb): To traverse, to cut across.
  • băng qua đường (to cross the street).

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Sang ngang qua: To cross over via/using (something). Emphasizes the means of crossing.
  • Chúng tôi sang ngang qua cầu phao. (We crossed over via the pontoon bridge.)

Related Idioms

• Sang ngang vội vã: To cross hastily/rashly. Can be used literally or figuratively for a rushed marriage.
  • Đừng sang ngang vội vã khi chưa quan sát. (Don't cross hastily without looking.)
• Sông rộng, đò ngang: A proverb ("The river is wide, the ferry is small") implying a difficult challenge or obstacle to overcome, often in the context of marriage or a major life step.

verb

1. to cross
   • đò sang ngang
     aferry-boat