Bits 'n' Pieces
How do you translate "piece" in "pieces of a split-up shape"
Por ejemplo, "You can separate the hexagon into 6 equal pieces."
I know I can use "parts" too, but prefer to use "pieces".
3 Answers
It's not simply that you can use "parts", it is the most common way of referring to that: "puedes separar el hexágono en seis partes iguales", although you can use other words like "trozo" or "pedazo", though they sound a little less formal: "puedes separar el hexágono en seis trozos iguales". The word "pieza" is used when you have actual pieces, like a jigsaw puzzle or a mechanical assembly, and doesn't sound good when referring to virtual pieces.
I know I can use "parts" too, but prefer to use "pieces".
Your personal choice of words, when constructing a sentence in your native tongue , is of course, your business (personally, I would have chosen "parts"). Your assumption that the distinctions that you would like to make can/should be accurately reflected in any other language is, of course, silly.
Different languages have different preferences about the usual way to express ideas. Your insistence/assumption that a particular word in English should/must be translated by a particular word in some (any) other language, is nonsense.
Maybe try using this close synonym to "piece" --
- hacer pedazos algo -> to break something to bits; to destroy something (figurative)
- saltar en (mil) pedazos -> to be smashed to pieces ing pedazo
