tear apart, take apart, pull apart, pull to pieces, rend to pieces, rip apart, rip sb./sth. to pieces/shreds, take...to bits/pieces 与 tear to bits/pieces/shreds 这些短语在意思和用法上相同或相近。

 (1) ①tear apart可表示“拆开，分开；将……弄乱；把(国家)弄得四分五裂；伤害(某人)或给(某人)造成悲伤或痛苦”。

• Jim has a mechanical bent — he's always tearing motors apart and putting them back together again.
  吉姆生性爱好机械——他总是把发动机拆开再重装起来。
• I must find the electric iron even if we have to tear the whole house apart .
  哪怕把整个房子弄个底朝天我也要把电熨斗找到。
• That country has been torn apart by years of tribal conflicts.
  连年的部族冲突已把这个国家弄得四分五裂。

②tear apart还可表示“对……吹毛求疵”，是非正式用语；用于人时作“责备”解。

• Don't tear her performance apart as unkindly as you did last time, even it is bad; it could destroy her.
  即使表演很糟，也千万不要像上次那样无情地对她的表演吹毛求疵了。那会毁了她的。
• I'll tear that boy apart when he comes home: look what he has done now!
  等那个男孩回来我一定要好好教训他一顿/我要劈了他：看看他都做了些什么！

③take apart也可表示“把……拆开；对……吹毛求疵；责备某人”，在表达这些意义时可与tear apart换用。

• His latest book has been taken apart/torn apart by the newspapers.
  报纸把他的新书批得体无完肤。
• Can this toy be taken apart so that the child can find out how it works?
  为了让这孩子了解这个玩具是怎么工作的，能把它拆开吗？

④take apart还可表示“把(某人)拉到一边”，等同于take aside, draw aside, pull aside。

• At the crucial moment, the coach asked for time-out and took members of his team apart to give them instructions.
  在这关键时刻，教练要求暂停，并把队员拉到一边给予指导。

 (2) ①pull apart, pull to pieces, rend to pieces可表示“对……(人或事)横加责难、吹毛求疵”。

• There is no point in pulling her apart/to pieces ; she did the job to the best of her ability.
  指责她是毫无道理的，她已尽了全力。
• Some newspaper reporters can always find a way of rending to pieces any new book by a young writer.
  某些报社记者总能找到理由，对年轻作家的任何新书都吹毛求疵。

②pull apart, pull to pieces还表示“把……扯碎”。

• Look! The dog is pulling the newspaper apart/to pieces!
  看！那狗正在撕扯报纸。

③pull apart又作“拆(得)开”解。

• The toy is made to pull apart .
  这种玩具拆得开。
• The wardrobe is so made that it can easily be pulled apart .
  这衣柜专门做得容易拆开。

 (3) rip apart可表示“拆开，撕破，弄乱”，也可表示“伤害，使(某人)悲伤或痛苦”。

• A large number of travelers had a narrow escape this morning when a bomb ripped apart the train in which they had been traveling.
  今晨一列火车被炸得七零八落，众多乘客侥幸逃脱。
• In the film, a happy family was ripped/torn apart by the husband abandoning his wife and child and marrying another woman.
  在这部电影里，丈夫抛妻弃子和别的女人结了婚，把一个好端端的家给毁了。

 (4) ①rip sb./sth. to pieces/shreds 意思是“毫无情面地攻击某人或某事；把……驳得体无完肤”，语气较强，可与tear sth. to pieces/bits互换。

• The next speaker ripped his opponent's argument to shreds in a few minutes.
  下一个发言者只消几分钟就把对手的论点驳得体无完肤。
• Can't you see your story doesn't stand up to close examination? Anyone could rip it to shreds .
  你不觉得自己的故事经不起推敲吗？任何一个人都会把它批得体无完肤。

②rip (sth.) to pieces/shreds还可表示“撕成碎片”。

• The curtains were ripped to/into pieces .
  窗帘被撕成碎片。

 (5) take...to bits/pieces可表示“拆开”，也可作“责难，吹毛求疵”解。

• Don't take the record player to bits . If you do, I am afraid you can't put it back again.
  不要把录音机拆开。如果拆开，恐怕你就装不上了。

 (6) tear sth.to bits/pieces/shreds意为“撕碎，扯碎”，另外还可作“无情地攻击；把……驳得体无完肤/批评得不成样子”解，与rip sth. to pieces/shreds可换用。