破坏
pòhuài · HSK 3
destroy
💥 破 (break/split) + 坏 (bad/ruined) = break-bad → destroy
破 has the 石 (stone) radical: splitting stone. 坏 has 土 (earth) plus a 'bad' phonetic: ruined ground. Together they mean to wreck or violate something.
破 — stone 石 + skin/hide 皮
破 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 石 (stone) gives the meaning 'to break, smash,' since stones were used to crack things, while 皮 (pí) supplies the sound. The original sense of breaking stone broadened to mean 'broken,' 'damaged,' or 'to defeat.'
坏 — earth 土 + 不 (not)
A modern simplified form. The left side 土 (earth) suggests something physical or material, while the right side 不 (not/negative) acts as a semantic hint meaning 'not good.' The traditional form 壞 used 褱 as a phonetic component, but the simplified 坏 reuses an older variant character.