To Separate
To Be Divided, To Part From, To Break Up
intransitive verb, ichidan verb
Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means separate, so you can guess the meaning is to separate or to be divided.
Remember the word 分ける? That word means "to separate" too. The reading is similar, though not the same, but we can at least use it as a jumping off point. We go from わける to わかれる. It's like we've "separated" the け and the る and combined them in the middle. け, making a かれ, which gets you to わかれる.
友人と別れる
to part with a friend
仲間と別れる
to part with one's friends
家族と別れる
to part with one's family
きれいに別れる
to have a clean breakup
グループに別れる
to separate into groups
二つに別れる
to split in two
さっぱり別れる
to break up completely
もう別れる
will break up soon, will part ways soon
すぐ別れる
will break up immediately, will break up soon
別れるのはイヤ!
I don't want to break up!
先月、彼氏と別れました。
I broke up with my boyfriend last month.
え、なんで別れたの?
Wait, why did you break up?