Translation guide
A broken piece of a hard material like glass, pottery, or metal. In Japanese, the most common word is 破片 (hahen), but the specific term depends on the material and context.
Referring to a sharp, broken fragment of something brittle.
There are shards of glass on the floor.
He cut his finger on a shard of pottery.
A more casual, everyday word for a fragment or piece. Often used for small, irregular pieces of broken objects.
Shards of the cup are scattered around.
Literary or technical term for a fragment, often implying something shattered into small pieces. Less common in daily speech.
Shards of the building flew everywhere after the explosion.
Emphasizing that the shard is made of glass.
Specifically a broken piece of pottery, earthenware, or ceramic.
A sharp, broken piece of metal.
Using 'shard' metaphorically for a fragment of something abstract.
破片 is for hard, brittle materials like glass, metal, or pottery. For broken pieces of food, wood, or plastic, use かけら or more specific words like 木片 (wood fragment).
破片 is more formal and often implies sharp, dangerous fragments. かけら is casual and can be used for any small broken piece, including non-sharp ones. In everyday conversation, かけら is more common for small, harmless fragments.
Glass shards were scattered at the accident scene.
I stepped on a shard of pottery.
工事現場で鉄片を拾った。
I picked up a shard of iron at the construction site.
Not even a shard of hope remains.