HSK 5 · Verbs

破坏 pòhuài “to destroy” in Chinese

Traditional 破壞

What 破坏 means

  1. to destroy
  2. to damage
  3. to sabotage
  4. destruction
  5. to wreck
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • to break

How to say 破坏

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale破pò4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale坏huài4th tone, falling

破坏 in a sentence

  1. 城市扩张会对环境造成破坏。

    Chéngshì kuòzhāng huì duì huánjìng zàochéng pòhuài.

    Urban sprawl damages the environment.

    Sentence #13180229 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  2. 台风的破坏跨越了好几个省。

    Táifēng de pòhuài kuàyuè le hǎojǐ ge shěng.

    The typhoon caused damage across several provinces.

    Sentence #461527 from Tatoeba

  3. 批评的目的是建设而不是破坏。

    Pīpíng de mùdì shì jiànshè ér bú shì pòhuài.

    The purpose of criticism is to build, not to destroy.

    Sentence #13949298 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 破坏 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 破 (pò) with each of its parts in a different colour
破pòbroken
  • 石stone · shíMeaning part
  • 皮skin · píSound part

石 hints at the meaning (stone); 皮 (pí) hints at the sound. Compare it with pò.

The character 坏 (huài) with each of its parts in a different colour
坏huàibad
  • 土earth · tǔMeaning part
  • 不no · bùSound part

土 hints at the meaning (earth); 不 (bù) hints at the sound. Compare it with huài.

How to write 破坏

破 10 strokes · 坏 7 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

破坏 (pòhuài) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 破坏 (pòhuài). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 破坏

Words with 破

破pò · broken破产pòchǎn · to go bankrupt破例pòlì · to make an exception突破tūpò · to break through

Words with 坏

坏huài · bad败坏bàihuài · to ruin损坏sǔnhuài · to damage

More words: Common Verbs

披pī · to drape over one’s shoulders飘piāo · to float (in the air)平衡pínghéng · balance平均píngjūn · average抢qiǎng · to snatch瞧qiáo · to look at切qiē · to cut庆祝qìngzhù · to celebrate

FAQs

破坏 (pòhuài) means “to destroy” or “to damage”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it pòhuài: pò with a 4th tone, then huài with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 破坏 is written 破壞. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type pohuai with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 破坏 from the suggestions. Typing pohuai into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
破坏 is an HSK 5 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.