破

pò

皮 + 石

HSK 2.0Level 4

HSK 3.0Level 4

Definitions

pò (verb) to break; to damage; to destroy

pò (adjective) broken; damaged; worn out

pò (verb) to defeat; to capture (a city)

pò (verb) to expose (the truth)

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 石 represents the meaning and 皮 represents the sound.

Semantic: 石 Phonetic: 皮

About

破 is a phono-semantic compound: the stone radical 石 on the left evokes hard, breakable objects, while 皮 on the right indicates the pronunciation. It first denoted the physical act of breaking or smashing stones into smaller pieces. Over time, this meaning expanded to breaking, damaging, or destroying any physical object, and later gained abstract senses like solving a case or breaking a record.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

我的杯子破了。

Wǒ de bēi zi pò le.

My cup is broken.

他打破了窗户。

Tā dǎ pò le chuāng hu.

He broke the window.

这个玩具已经破了。

Zhè gè wán jù yǐ jīng pò le.

This toy is already broken.

不要破坏公共财产。

Bù yào pò huài gōng gòng cái chǎn.

Do not destroy public property.

他们的关系破裂了。

Tā men de guān xì pò liè le.

Their relationship broke down.

警方成功破获了这起案件。

Jǐng fāng chéng gōng pò huò le zhè qǐ àn jiàn.

The police successfully solved this case.

经过多次实验，他们终于突破了技术难题。

Jīng guò duō cì shí yàn, tā men zhōng yú tū pò le jì shù nán tí.

After many experiments, they finally broke through the technical difficulties.

在经济学中，破窗理论是一个有趣的比喻。

Zài jīng jì xué zhōng, pò chuāng lǐ lùn shì yī gè yǒu qù de bǐ yù.

In economics, the broken window theory is an interesting metaphor.

Related Characters

Component: 皮

Component: 石

破