粉々に砕ける
konagona ni kudakeru
The Japanese way to say 'shatter' is 粉々に砕ける (konagona ni kudakeru).
The phrase 粉々に砕ける is used to describe something that shatters or breaks violently into tiny pieces.
Meaning: (transitive) to smash, to violently break into tiny pieces (verb)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase consists of the adverbial expression 粉々に, which means 'into tiny pieces' or 'into powder' and the verb 砕ける, which means 'to smash' or 'to break into pieces'.
Which one should you use?
There is a distinction between the intransitive and transitive forms. Use 粉々に砕ける when the subject itself shatters. If you want to express that an agent is smashing something into tiny pieces, use the transitive form 粉々に砕く.
How does it change in a sentence?
粉々に砕ける is an intransitive verb phrase, which means the subject of the sentence is the thing that breaks into pieces.
How do you pronounce it?
konagona ni kudakeru
Did you know?
- While 砕ける is the verb for shattering, the word 砕く can also be used to describe 'breaking the ice' in a social situation, similar to the English expression.
- In Japanese, the expression 粉々に can be used metaphorically to describe a heart or a reputation being completely destroyed or crushed.
- The kanji for 砕 contains the radical for 'stone', visually grounding the concept of shattering in the image of breaking hard minerals.
Examples in context
- ガラスは無数の破片に砕けた。The glass shattered into countless pieces.
- 手から滑り落ちた拍子に、誤って皿を割ってしまった。I accidentally shattered the plate when it slipped from my hands.
- 地震で建物の窓が割れた。The earthquake caused the windows in the building to shatter.
- あの壊れやすい花瓶は、落とすと粉々になるでしょう。The fragile vase will shatter if you drop it.
Example conversation
Himari and Hiroto are cleaning up a broken vase.
- 陽葵 Himari見て、花瓶が粉々に砕けるほど壊れたよ。mite, kaban ga konagona ni kudakeru hodo kowareta yo.Look, the vase broke so badly it shattered into pieces.
- 大翔 Hiroto危ないから、触らないでください。abunai kara, sawaranaide kudasai.It's dangerous, so please don't touch it.
- 陽葵 Himari片付けに時間がかかりそうね。katazuke ni jikan ga kakarisou ne.It looks like it will take a while to clean up.
- 大翔 Hiroto僕が掃除機を持ってきます。boku ga soujiki o motte kimasu.I will go get the vacuum cleaner.
