Ways to say it
| Portuguese | IPA |
|---|---|
| bater | /baˈte(ʁ)/ (Brazil) /baˈte(ɾ)/ (São Paulo) |
| golpear | /ɡow.piˈa(ʁ)/ (Brazil) /ɡowˈpja(ʁ)/ (Brazil) |
The primary way to express the act of hitting, knocking or beating is using bater. This verb is versatile and is used for various types of impact, such as bater na porta (to knock on the door) or bater o carro (to crash a car). Other related meanings include acerto, which refers to an approximately correct answer in a test set.
Which one should you use?
While golpear is a direct translation for a strike, bater is the much more common, everyday verb used for hitting, knocking or beating. For more specific contexts, you might use the formal verb atingir to mean hitting something with precision or reaching/achieving a goal or colidir to describe a collision or significant impact.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
When you are using bater to describe hitting a person, it is almost always followed by the preposition em (for example, bater em alguém).
How do you pronounce it?
/baˈte(ʁ)/
Did you know?
- In Brazil, bater is used in the expression bater papo, which means to have a casual chat or gossip.
- The word golpe can refer to a physical strike, but it is also the standard word for a political coup or a financial scam.
- The verb bater comes from the Latin 'battere', which is a distant relative of the English word 'batter'.
Examples in context
- Ele ia me bater!He was going to hit me!This sentence uses bater to show an intention to hit someone.Tatoeba #5984775 by Ricardo14, translation #5984768 by Hybrid
- Você vai me bater?Are you going to hit me?This sentence uses bater to ask a question about hitting someone.Tatoeba #7360062 by Ricardo14, translation #3822514 by CK
- Ele não quis me bater.He didn't mean to hit me.This sentence uses bater to express a lack of intent to hit someone.Tatoeba #2389728 by Ricardo14, translation #2280871 by ichivivi20
- O jogador atingiu a bola com força.The player hit the ball hard.
- O carro bateu no poste.The car hit the post.
- O lutador golpeou o adversário com um soco poderoso.The fighter hit the opponent with a powerful punch.
- Os dois carros colidiram violentamente.The two cars collided violently.
- Ele acertou o alvo em cheio.He hit the target dead on.
- O lutador deu-lhe um soco no rosto.The fighter hit him with a punch to the face.
- 24 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Juliana and Lucas are arguing about a broken toy.
- JulianaVocê não pode bater no seu irmão!You cannot hit your brother!
- LucasMas ele pegou meu brinquedo!But he took my toy!
- JulianaNão importa, é errado bater.It doesn't matter, hitting is wrong.
- LucasTudo bem, eu peço desculpas.All right, I apologize.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “hit” translations and entries bater, golpear, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries bater, golpear, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
