Definitions

1. Noun:
   • A veranda floor; a porch floor: The flat, often raised surface area immediately in front of a house's entrance, typically under a roof overhang. It serves as a transitional space between the outside and the inside of a home.
   • A threshold; a doorstep: The specific part of the floor at the entrance to a building, often a single step or slab.
   • A terrace (geological/geographical): A flat, step-like landform, such as a river terrace (thềm sông) or a continental shelf (thềm lục địa).

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Bà ngồi hóng mát trên thềm nhà. (She sat enjoying the cool breeze on the house's veranda.)
  • Anh ấy đứng chờ ngay ngoài thềm cửa. (He waited right outside the doorstep.)
  • Các nhà địa chất nghiên cứu thềm lục địa của Việt Nam. (Geologists study Vietnam's continental shelf.)

Advanced Usage

• "Bước lên thềm": to step onto the veranda/porch; idiomatically, to enter a house or a place.
  • Khách đã bước lên thềm, chủ nhà ra chào. (The guest had stepped onto the porch, and the host came out to greet them.)
• "Ngồi ngoài thềm": to sit outside on the veranda/porch.
  • Ông lão thích ngồi ngoài thềm đọc báo. (The old man likes sitting on the porch to read the newspaper.)

Variants and Related Words

• Bậc thềm (noun): The step(s) leading up to a veranda or entrance. It specifies the stepped part rather than the flat floor area.
  • Cẩn thận bậc thềm cao. (Be careful of the high steps.)
• Thềm nhà (compound noun): House veranda/porch. (This is a compound and listed here as a related term).
• Thềm cửa (compound noun): Doorstep, threshold. (This is a compound and listed here as a related term).

Synonyms

• Hiên: Veranda, porch. (Can be very similar to , but often emphasizes the covered, roofed area more than the floor surface itself).
• Ngưỡng cửa: Threshold (more specifically the line or point of entrance).

Related Phrases/Idioms

• "Đầu thềm góc sân": A poetic phrase describing familiar, homely corners of one's house and yard, evoking nostalgia.
  • Ký ức tuổi thơ gắn liền với đầu thềm góc sân. (Childhood memories are attached to the familiar porch and yard corners.)
• "Trước thềm năm mới": On the threshold of the New Year; meaning just before the New Year begins.
  • Mọi người sum họp trước thềm năm mới. (Everyone gathers together on the threshold of the New Year.)

noun

1. veranda floor