Chinese word

分手

Pronunciation

Pinyinfēn shǒu

Meaning

  • verbbreak up

Example

他们昨天分手了。tā men zuó tiān fēn shǒu le

They broke up yesterday.

Illustration for 分手 (break up)

More examples

她想提出分手，可他不同意。tā xiǎng tí chū fēn shǒu kě tā bù tóng yì

She wanted to propose breaking up, but he disagreed.

Core concept

Two people let go of a shared connection and move from closeness into separate paths.

Common phrases

  • 提出分手tí chū fēn shǒu

    propose breaking up

  • 主动提出分手zhǔ dòng tí chū fēn shǒu

    initiate a breakup

  • 彻底分手chè dǐ fēn shǒu

    break up for good

Similar words

结束jié shù: Bring a matter, activity, or relationship to an end so that it does not continue.
离婚lí hūn: Legally end a marriage so that the married couple is no longer married.
分开fēn kāi: Separate people or things from a shared place or state so that they become apart.

Definition in Chinese

与某人结束交往或合作，强调从亲密状态转为分离的动作或结果。yǔ mǒu rén jié shù jiāo wǎng huò hé zuò qiáng diào cóng qīn mì zhuàng tài zhuǎn wéi fēn lí de dòng zuò huò jié guǒ

Word origin

分手 (fēnshǒu, "break up") combines 分 (fēn, "separate") with 手 (shǒu, "hand"), creating the image of hands letting go as a relationship or partnership ends.

Usage tips

  • Everyday speech often puts 跟 (gēn, "with") or 和 (hé, "with") before the other person, and places 了 (le, "completed change") after the verb when the separation is presented as complete.

Other meanings

  • breakupnoun
  • part waysverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word