びりびりに破いた - why they come together


So I found this sentence

[code]

    彼は彼女の写真をびりびりに破いた
    
[/code]

Looking at jisho, びりびり got translate as torn (adj) and 破く to tear (v). Its the
first time I'm seeing both of these words but I don't understand why it is
written like that. Do I need びりびり with 破く to say that I have torn something if
I can just use the verb 破く.

Is it simply a way of speech?

Thanks, Or




As you can probably guess by its appearance, びりびり is an
[onomatopoeia](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/japanese-onomatopoeia/) that
describes how a sheet of paper is torn to pieces. In other words, it's the
sound of paper being torn apart. This びりびりに before 破く is optional, but with
it, the sentence sounds more emphatic or vivid. In English, something like
"into pieces" would be the closest translation of びりびりに.

By the way, びりびり is basically an adverb, and it almost never works as a na-
adjective. I often see jisho.org making mistakes regarding word class...

See also: [Why are there so many sound symbolic
words?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/5298/5010)




As you can probably guess by its appearance, びりびり is an
[onomatopoeia](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/japanese-onomatopoeia/) that
describes how a sheet of paper is torn to pieces. In other words, it's the
sound of paper being torn apart. This びりびりに before 破く is optional, but with
it, the sentence sounds more emphatic or vivid. In English, something like
"into pieces" would be the closest translation of びりびりに.

By the way, びりびり is basically an adverb, and it almost never works as a na-
adjective. I often see jisho.org making mistakes regarding word class...

See also: [Why are there so many sound symbolic
words?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/5298/5010)

