разбивать vs разбить
razbivát' vs razbít' — smash/shatter repeatedly vs smash/shatter once
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What it really means
Разбивать means to smash, shatter, defeat, or divide as a process or repeated action. Разбить marks one completed result, especially breaking something into pieces; it also appears in expressions about a decisive sporting defeat.
Examples in natural speech
Не разбивай стаканы.
Do not break the glasses.
Он разбил чашку.
He smashed a cup.
Волны разбивают камни.
Waves break rocks apart.
Команда разбила соперника со счётом 4:0.
The team crushed its opponent 4–0.
Она случайно разбила вазу.
She accidentally smashed the vase.
Common mistakes
Do not substitute сломать automatically: сломать телефон usually means damage it, but разбить телефон suggests cracking or shattering it. Use разбить when the impact and pieces—or a crushing defeat—matter.
Memory tip
Разбить evokes a sharp удар that scatters something into parts; сломать is the broader idea of making a thing broken.
Frequently asked questions
Can разбить mean “divide” rather than “smash”?
Yes. Разбить группу на пары means divide the group into pairs; the perfective presents the division as completed.
Why is «волны разбивают камни» imperfective?
Waves repeatedly wear and break rocks over time, so the sentence describes an ongoing natural process.
What does «разбить соперника» mean in sport?
It is an emphatic figurative use: defeat an opponent decisively, often with a large score difference.
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