约翰离开了公司，另起炉灶。

John turned his back on the company and started on his own.

Source: Tatoeba

Sentence Composition

1 约翰 Yuēhàn
  1. John (name)
  2. Johan (name)
  3. Johann (name)
2 离开 líkāi to depart; to leave
=3 了 le
  1. (completed action marker)
  2. (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now)
  3. (modal particle intensifying preceding clause)
=3 了 liǎo
  1. to finish
  2. (used with 得 dé or 不 bù after a verb to express (im)possibility, as in 忘不了 wàngbuliǎo "cannot forget")
  3. (literary) (usually followed by a negative such as 无 wú or 不 bù) completely (not); entirely (not); (not) in the least
  4. to understand clearly (variant of 了 liǎo)
=3 了 liǎo
  1. (of eyes) bright
  2. clear-sighted
  3. to understand clearly
=3 了 liào unofficial variant of 瞭 liào
4 公司 gōngsī company; firm; corporation

classifier: 家
5 另起炉灶 lìngqǐlúzào
  1. lit. to set up a separate kitchen (idiom); to start from scratch
  2. back to square one
  3. to start of on a new path