破 (pò): break
破 (pò) is a Chinese character meaning “break.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 石 (semantic) and 皮 (phonetic). It ranks #604 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 破 rock. Its radical form 石 (stone) appears in many related characters such as 确 (què, certain, true), 碗 (wǎn, bowl), 碰 (pèng, to touch, to bump).
Definitions
- break
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 破 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 破
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 破坏verb | pò huài | destruction | 5 |
| 打破verb | dǎ pò | to break | 5 |
| 破产verb | pò chǎn | to go bankrupt | 6 |
| 突破verb | tū pò | to break through | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 破案verb | pò àn | to solve a criminal case |
| 破裂verb | pò liè | to burst |
| 破烂adjective | pò làn | worn-out |
| 拿破仑proper-noun | ná pò lún | variant of 拿破崙|拿破仑 |
| 破碎verb | pò suì | to smash to pieces |
| 爆破verb | bào pò | to blow up |
| 破解verb | pò jiě | to break (a bond, constraint etc) |
| 破灭verb | pò miè | to be shattered |
| 破门而入 | pò mén ér rù | to break the door down and enter (idiom) |
| 破译verb | pò yì | to decipher |
| 识破verb | shí pò | to penetrate |
| 破损verb | pò sǔn | to become damaged |
| 侦破verb | zhēn pò | to investigate (as detective) |
| 破例verb | pò lì | to make an exception |
| 破旧adjective | pò jiù | shabby |
破 appears in 104 compound words: 62 as the first character, 30 as the last, and 9 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 破 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (29)
to fearlessly and steadfastly pursue a goal without regard to setbacks
(idiom) (usu. of sth abstract: an alliance, a conviction etc) unbreakable; rock-solid
to allow things to worsen even if you know there are faults or mistakes
(idiom) (usu. of sth abstract: an alliance, a conviction etc) unbreakable; rock-solid
Showing 12 of 29 idioms containing 破.
Example Sentences
这个记录被打破了，新的纪录比原来快了两秒。
Zhè gè jìlù bèi dǎpò le, xīn de jìlù bǐ yuánlái kuài le liǎng miǎo.
This record was broken; the new record is two seconds faster than the original.
(米兰冬奥会)惊喜与突破交织 中国冰雪向新而行
( mǐ lán dōng ào huì ) jīng xǐ yǔ tū pò jiāo zhī zhōng guó bīng xuě xiàng xīn ér háng
(Milan Winter Olympics) Surprises and breakthroughs are intertwined, and China's ice and snow are moving towards the new
...BLACKPINK官方YouTube订户破亿 艺人创举
. . . B L A C K P I N K guān fāng Y o u T u b e dìng hù pò yì yì rén chuàng jǔ
... BLACKPINK's official YouTube subscribers exceeded 100 million, an artist's initiative
大看台|从郑钦文到宁忠岩:冲破欧美垄断 镌刻东方印..
dà kàn tái cóng zhèng qīn wén dào nìng zhōng yán : chōng pò ōu měi lǒng duàn 镌 kè dōng fāng yìn . .
From Zheng Qinwen to Ning Zhongyan: Breaking through the monopoly of Europe and the United States and engraved the Oriental Seal:
冬奥会|全天综合:中国速滑再迎突破 中井亚美领跑花..
dōng ào huì quán tiān zèng gě zhōng guó sù huá zài yíng tū pò zhōng jǐng yà měi lǐng pǎo huā . .
Winter Olympics|All Day Roundup: China's speed skating breaks through again as Ami Nakai leads the way in flower...
永定河山峡段4座梯级水电站累计发电破100亿千瓦时
yǒng dìng hé shān xiá duàn zuò tī jí shuǐ diàn zhàn lěi jì fā diàn pò yì qiān wǎ shí
Cumulative power generation from the four cascade hydropower stations along the mountainous section of the Yongding River surpasses 10 billion kilowatt-hours.
是杰克打破窗户的吗?
Shì Jiékè dǎpò chuānghu de ma?
Was it Jack that broke the window?
我们必须设法打破这个僵局。
Wǒmen bìxū shèfǎ dǎpò zhège jiāngjú.
We must try to break the deadlock.
强盗似乎是在上层破窗而入的。
Qiáng dào sìhū shì zài shàngcéng pò chuāng ér rù de.
It seems that the burglar broke in through an upstairs window.
昆虫破蛹而出变成成虫。
Kūnchóng pòyǒng ér chū biànchéng chéngchóng.
The insect grew out of a pupa into an imago.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 石 (rock) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 破 (pò) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 破 and 被?
How many strokes does 破 have?
What is the radical of 破?
What are the components of 破?
What are common words containing 破?
What characters sound the same as 破 (pò)?
Is 破 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 破 with real-time feedback
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