“break one's heart”是英语中描述情感痛苦的核心短语,字面直译是“打碎某人的心”,实际含义是:
该短语是及物动词短语,通常以两种结构出现:
主语是造成伤心的原因(可以是具体的人、事件或行为),宾语是“某人的心脏”(象征情感)。
His sudden decision to leave broke her heart.(他突然决定离开,让她心碎。)
The death of her beloved cat broke little Amy's heart.(她心爱的猫去世,让小艾米伤心欲绝。)
Cheating on someone will almost always break their heart.(背叛某人几乎肯定会让对方心碎。)
强调“某人处于心碎的状态”,常用来描述结果。
Her heart was broken when she found out he was lying.(当她发现他在撒谎时,她的心碎了。)
My heart has been broken too many times to trust easily now.(我心碎过太多次,现在很难再轻易信任别人。)
用形式主语“it”指代后面的不定式,表达“做某事让某人很伤心”。
It breaks my heart to see homeless children begging on the street.(看到无家可归的孩子在街上乞讨,我很心碎。)
It would break his heart to know how much we miss him.(如果他知道我们有多想念他,一定会很伤心。)
程度侧重:比“make sb sad”(让某人难过)更强烈,强调“直击内心的痛苦”(如失去重要的人/事、被背叛、期待落空等)。
非生理含义:不要误解为“物理上的心脏破裂”,完全是情感隐喻。
break sb's heart = shatter sb's heart(更强调“粉碎”,程度更深)
break sb's heart = break sb's spirit(但后者侧重“打击士气”,前者侧重“情感痛苦”)
通过以上用法和例子,你可以快速掌握“break one's heart”的场景——只要涉及情感上的强烈伤害,都可以用它来表达~