碎 suì to break
to break; to smash; broken; to break into pieces; to shatter; scattered
怎么记住“碎”: 石 stone + 卒 foot soldier = to break. The boy throws a stone at his toy foot soldier by mistake and watches the old plastic figure begin to break into pieces.
部件结构
形声 · Meaning + sound
One part gives the meaning, the other gives the sound.
碎 = 石 stone + 卒 foot soldier
- 石 stone meaning
- 卒 foot soldier sound
The boy throws a stone at his toy foot soldier by mistake and watches the old plastic figure begin to break into pieces.
How it came to be
Stone gives the meaning and the right part the sound.
用法
- Verb/resultative meaning "broken into pieces": 打碎 (dǎsuì) "to smash", 摔碎 (shuāisuì) "to drop and shatter"; 碎 attaches after a verb to show the breaking result.
- 心碎 (xīnsuì) "heartbroken" extends this physically-broken sense metaphorically.
- As a standalone adjective it means "fragmented, in bits": 碎片 (suìpiàn) "fragments", 零碎 (língsuì) "scattered, odds and ends".
- 琐碎 (suǒsuì) "trivial, fussy" describes small annoying details rather than physical breakage.