字面直译是“打破某人的心”,实际表示“使某人极度伤心;让某人心碎;令某人悲痛欲绝”(强调情感上的剧烈打击,通常涉及失去、背叛或失望等深刻痛苦)。
该短语是及物动词短语,结构为:
主语(通常是“造成伤害的人/事”) + break + sb.'s heart(“某人的心”,sb. 需用形容词性物主代词,如 his/her/my/our 等)
覆盖情感、失去、失望等核心场景,以下是典型用法:
His girlfriend broke his heart when she left him for another man.
(他女朋友为了另一个男人离开他,让他心碎了。)
I never wanted to break your heart—I just didn’t know how to tell you the truth.
(我从没想过让你伤心——我只是不知道怎么告诉你真相。)
Losing her only child broke her heart completely.
(失去独子让她彻底心碎。)
It breaks my heart to see the old bookstore closing down—we’ve been going there for years.
(看到那家老书店要关门,我很伤心——我们去了好几年了。)
常用形式主语 it 引出“做某事让某人伤心”,更强调“行为本身”的痛苦:
It breaks my heart to watch you struggle so much.
(看着你这么挣扎,我很心疼/心碎。)
It would break his heart to know you lied to him.
(如果他知道你骗了他,会很伤心的。)
程度区别:比普通的“hurt sb.’s feelings(伤感情)”更严重,是“心碎级”的痛苦;
被动表达:若强调“某人被伤透心”,可转化为 sb.’s heart is broken(但原短语是主动结构,侧重“造成伤害的动作”);
适用对象:可用于亲人、爱人、朋友,甚至对事物的情感(如宠物、旧物、回忆)。
总结:"break sb.'s heart" 是描述“深度情感伤害”的经典表达,核心是“让某人的内心因失去或背叛而剧痛”,用在需要强调“痛苦强度”的场景中。