How to say ” She broke up with her boyfriend today; her heart is broken” in Chinese: 她今天和她的男朋友分手，她的心都碎了。Ta1 jin1 tian1 he2 ta1 de5 nan2 peng2 you3 fen1 shou3, ta1 de5 xin1 dou1 sui4 le5. Ta1 （她 pronoun, she) jin1 tian1 (今天 noun, today) he2 (和 conjunction, and) ta1 de5 (她的possessive pronoun, her) nan2 peng2 you3 (男朋友 noun, boyfriend) fen1 shou3 (分手 originally means departing hands, here means broke up), ta1 de5 (她的 possessive pronoun, her) xin1 (心 noun, heart) dou1 (都 adverb, all) sui4 (碎 verb, was broken) le5 (了 aspect marker — show change of status: from heart was intact to heart got broken).
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Let’s learn about the idioms with character xin1
一心一意
yi4 xin1 yi2 yi4
xin1 means heart, and yi4 means intention or mind. Together 一心一意 means undivided heart and attention. For example, you can say
他一心一意只想去中国。
Ta1 yi4 xin1 yi2 yi4 zhi3 xiang3 qu4 zhong1 guo2.
He intently only wants to go to China.
三心二意
san1 xin1 er2 yi4
Three hearts and two minds, 三心二意 means a person is with two minds — not concentrated, not attentive.
他想买这， 想买那，真是三心二意呀。
Ta1 xiang3 mai3 zhe4, xiang3 mai3 na4, zhen1 shi4 san1 xin1 er4 yi4 ya5.
He wants to buy this, also wants to buy that; he is really in two minds.
心照不宣
xin1 zhao4 bu1 xuan1
People know something by heart, but they just don’t want to announce it.
这件事大家都心照不宣。
Zhe4 jian4 shi4, da4 jia1 dou1 xin1 zhao4 bu4 xuan.
Everyone all has a tacit mutual understanding on this matter.
心口不一
xin1 kuo3 bu4 yi1
The heart and the mouth are at variance. It means the person doesn’t say what he or she really thinks.
这个人心口不一，你要当心。
Zhe4 ge5 ren2 xin1 kou3 bu4 yi1, ni3 yao4 dang1 xin1.
This person said one thing, but his mind doesn’t really mean it; you have to be careful.
心不在焉
xin1 bu4 zai4 yan1
Yan1 is a classic character means here. So, it means the heart is not here– absentminded.
他考试心不在焉，所以没考好。
Ta1 kao3 shi4 xin1 bu2 zai4 yan1, so3 yi3 mei2 kao3 hao3.
He was absentminded while did the test, so did not do well.
心安理得
xin1 an1 li3 de2。
It means the heart is at peace and also got sound reasons.
他心安理得，心情很好。
Ta1 xin1 an1 li3 de5, xin1 ching2 hen3 hao3.
He has a clear conscience, have no qualms about things; his mood is very good.
张惠妹 Zhang Hui Mei / A-mei
记得 Ji de Remember, for lyrics and pinyin and English translation, please see:
http://www.chinesetolearn.com/?p=1872
My Immortal-Evanescence(lyrics)