Definition

1. Verb:
   • To rotate / to revolve in cycles: Describes a continuous, often repetitive, circular or cyclical motion or change. It implies a turning or shifting that returns to a starting point or follows a predictable pattern.
   • To alternate / to change in succession: Refers to situations, circumstances, or roles changing from one state to another in a sequential, often inevitable, order.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Bốn mùa trong năm xoay vần. (The four seasons of the year revolve in cycles.)
  • Vận may và vận rủi xoay vần không ngừng. (Good luck and bad luck alternate incessantly.)
  • Quyền lực chính trị có thể xoay vần. (Political power can rotate.)

Advanced Usage

• "xoay vần của tạo hóa": the cyclical turn of fate/nature.
  • Con người nhỏ bé trước cái xoay vần của tạo hóa. (Humans are insignificant before the cyclical turn of fate.)

Variants and Related Words

• Xoay (v): to turn, to rotate, to spin (a single, often physical, turning action).

  • Anh ấy xoay chiếc bàn. (He turned the table.)

• Luân phiên (v): to take turns, to alternate (often by plan or agreement).

  • Họ luân phiên trực đêm. (They take turns on night duty.)

Synonyms

• Rotate: to turn around a central point.
• Alternate: to occur or follow in turns repeatedly.
• Cycle: to occur in or pass through a cycle.

Related Idioms

• Xoay vần như cái máy: to work or operate like a machine, implying repetitive, monotonous cycles.

  • Công việc nhàm chán, ngày nào cũng xoay vần như cái máy. (The job is boring, every day it's the same repetitive cycle like a machine.)

• Sự đời xoay vần: the vicissitudes of life; the idea that life's circumstances are constantly and cyclically changing.

  • Anh phải chấp nhận sự đời xoay vần. (You have to accept the vicissitudes of life.)