碎 suì to break
to break; to smash; broken; to break into pieces; to shatter; scattered
How to remember 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.
Component breakdown
碎 = 石 stone + 卒 foot soldier
- 石 stone
- 卒 foot soldier
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 is used
- 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.