Definition

1. Verb:
   • To avoid, to dodge: To move oneself aside to prevent a collision or to not be in the way.
   • To evade, to shirk: To deliberately keep away from or prevent oneself from encountering something undesirable, unpleasant, or harmful.
   • To spare, to prevent: To take action so that something bad or undesirable does not happen to oneself or others.
   • To refrain from: Used before another verb to indicate consciously not doing something.

Usage Examples

• To avoid, to dodge:
  • Xe tải phải tránh sang bên đường. (The truck had to move aside to the edge of the road.)
  • Hai người đi ngược chiều tránh nhau. (The two people walking in opposite directions avoided each other.)
• To evade, to shirk:
  • Cô ấy luôn tránh gặp ông chủ sau sự cố đó. (She always avoids meeting the boss after that incident.)
  • Anh ta tránh được cú đấm. (He dodged the punch.)
• To spare, to prevent:
  • Hãy cố gắng tránh sai sót. (Try to avoid mistakes.)
  • Tôi muốn tránh cho cô ấy khỏi buồn phiền. (I want to spare her from sorrow.)
• To refrain from:
  • Chúng ta nên tránh phán xét người khác. (We should refrain from judging others.)
  • Tránh đề cập đến vấn đề nhạy cảm. (Avoid mentioning the sensitive issue.)

Advanced Usage

• "tránh cho": To spare someone from something.
  • Anh ấy tránh cho gia đình khỏi lo lắng. (He spared his family from worry.)
• "tránh khỏi": To be unavoidable, to be inevitable (often used in the negative or passive sense).
  • Sự thất bại là không thể tránh khỏi. (Failure was unavoidable.)
• "tránh mặt": To avoid meeting someone, to stay out of someone's sight.
  • Nó cứ tránh mặt tôi suốt. (He keeps avoiding me.)

Variants and Related Words

• Né tránh (verb): To dodge, to evade (emphasizes a quick, physical movement or a clever evasion).
  • Cầu thủ né tránh hậu vệ đối phương. (The player dodged the opponent's defender.)
• Lảng tránh (verb): To sidestep, to evade (often regarding a topic or responsibility).
  • Anh ta lảng tránh câu hỏi của phóng viên. (He sidestepped the reporter's question.)
• Trốn tránh (verb): To shirk, to evade (implies avoiding duty or responsibility).
  • Không được trốn tránh trách nhiệm. (You must not shirk your responsibility.)

Synonyms

• Lẩn: To slip away, to hide oneself.
• Lánh: To keep away from, to withdraw from.
• Né: To dodge (a physical object).

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Tránh đi: To get out of the way, to move aside.
  • Tránh đi cho xe cứu thương qua! (Move aside for the ambulance!)
• Tránh ra: To move aside, to make way (often as a command).
  • Tránh ra một chút! (Step aside a bit!)

Related Idioms

• Tránh voi chẳng hổ mặt nào: There is no shame in yielding to a stronger force; discretion is the better part of valour.
  • Đối thủ quá mạnh, tránh voi chẳng hổ mặt nào. (The opponent is too strong, there's no shame in backing down.)
• Tránh vỏ dưa gặp vỏ dừa: To jump out of the frying pan and into the fire; to avoid one problem only to encounter a worse one.
  • Anh ấy bỏ việc vì sếp khó tính, nhưng giờ gặp sếp mới còn tệ hơn, đúng là tránh vỏ dưa gặp vỏ dừa. (He quit his job because of a difficult boss, but now his new boss is even worse, it's truly out of the frying pan and into the fire.)

verb

1. to avoid, to shirk to give way to dodge