Cầu thủ phạm lỗi.

The player commits a foul.

Breakdown of Cầu thủ phạm lỗi.

• cầu thủ: the player
• phạm lỗi: to commit a foul

Questions & Answers about Cầu thủ phạm lỗi.

What does each word in Cầu thủ phạm lỗi mean?

• cầu thủ = player, athlete, or in many contexts footballer / soccer player
• phạm = to commit or to violate
• lỗi = fault, error, mistake, or in sports often foul

So word-for-word, the sentence is something like player commit fault/foul.

Why is phạm lỗi translated together, instead of translating phạm and lỗi completely separately?

Because phạm lỗi is a very common Vietnamese combination meaning to commit a fault, to make an error, or in sports to commit a foul.

Even though:

• phạm can mean commit / violate
• lỗi can mean fault / error / mistake

in real usage, the combination works like a set expression. So learners should remember phạm lỗi as a useful chunk.

Does Cầu thủ phạm lỗi mean The player committed a foul or The player made a mistake?

It can mean either, depending on context.

Most likely meanings:

• in a sports context: The player committed a foul
• in a more general context: The player made a mistake or The player was at fault

Because you said the meaning has already been shown to the learner, the context probably decides which English translation is intended. Vietnamese often leaves this kind of detail to context.