扯
chě , chě · HSK 7
to pull
🧵 Hand (扌) that pulls apart (止 looks like a snag) — CHEck that rip!
The radical 扌 means hand, doing the pulling action. The right side 止 (stop) hints at something snagging. Sound-link: che sounds like the start of CHECK — you check fabric by giving it a tug and tear.
扯 — hand radical 扌 + 也 yě (phonetic)
扯 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the hand radical 扌 gives the meaning (an action done with the hand, like pulling or tearing), while 也 hints at the sound. It's a relatively late character used for 'to pull,' 'to tear,' or colloquially 'to chat/babble.'