破 (pò) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

破

pò[po4]Tone 4

broken

HSK 3

Guru Deep Dive

English · broken

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:10

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (石) is compressed on the left side, while the right component (皮) extends its final sweeping curves to maintain stable equilibrium.

1. Meaning

broken, damaged, or torn

to break, split, or cleaveto destroy or defeatto expose the truth or debunkworn out or lousy

Adjective / VerbNeutral#physical state#action#destruction

Sample Usage

这个杯子破了。
zhège bēizi pò le.
This cup is broken.
我们要打破陈规。
wǒmen yào dǎpò chéngguī.
We want to break conventional rules.

2. Sound

/[pʰɔ⁵¹]/Tone: 51

破

pòpo4

`(51)

=pò

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Bilabial

Sounds like: p sound as in 'pet'

Aspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Strong puff of air! A tissue held before lips MUST fly forward.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips firmly closed then parted suddenly to release an audible puff of air.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -o vowel group

Sounds like: aw sound as in 'paw'

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'aw'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and plunges straight down rapidly, identical to an abrupt, commanding English 'Stop!' or 'No!'

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the aspirated p- sound with the unaspirated b- sound in bō, or mishearing the sharp 4th tone as a dipping 3rd tone.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A swift karate chop downward from high to low, mirroring an abrupt drop in voice pitch.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 10 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (石) is compressed on the left side, while the right component (皮) extends its final sweeping curves to maintain stable equilibrium.

4. Components

Radical 石 · Stone Radical (stone, rock)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 石 (Indicates the hard, solid material that can be broken or split.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 皮 (original sound: pí / pò phonetic nexus)

A hard stone (石) is struck until its outer skin or surface (皮) is cracked open.

石 Stone (material/semantic base)
皮 Skin/hide (phonetic and shape clue)

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

15· Phonetic Root: 皮 (pí)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally combined 石 (stone) and 皮 (skin/surface) to represent splitting or cracking a hard stone or hide.

Semantic Evolution: Expanded from physically splitting stones or skins to general breakage, destroying enemies, uncovering truths, and being worn out.

In ancient warfare, '破' referred specifically to breaching city walls or defeating an opposing army.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine throwing a heavy stone (石) at an animal skin (皮), causing it to instantly split and break (破) into pieces with a sharp explosive sound.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

波

bōwaveReplaces the stone radical with water (氵), representing water waves.

披

pīto drape, wrap aroundReplaces the stone radical with hand (扌), meaning to drape with hands.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

坡(pō)

Uses the earth radical (土) instead of stone (石), meaning a slope or hillside rather than broken.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

这个碗不小心摔[___]了。

Clue: pò

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the tone with 3rd tone (pǒ) or mixing up the left radical with earth (土) to write 坡.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see '破', what does it mean and how do you pronounce it with its tone?

Production: How do you write the character meaning 'broken' using stone and skin components?

破pòbroken

Speed:

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