machucar

Machucar is a Portuguese verb meaning to injure, hurt, or damage someone or something, typically by causing physical harm. It can refer to minor injuries such as a bruise or more serious harm, and it is also used metaphorically to describe emotional hurt or offense.

In usage, machucar generally takes a direct object: eu machuco alguém, ele machucou o pé. It can be reflexive to express harming oneself: ele se machuca ao cair. The term is common in Brazilian Portuguese and widely understood in other varieties; in formal medical or legal contexts, ferir, lesionar, or danificar may be used as alternatives with different nuance or formality.

Etymology and nuance: machucar derives from the root machuc- related to damage, with related forms like machucado (injured) and machuca- (injury). The word conveys both physical injury and the idea of causing harm, and its informal tone makes it frequent in everyday speech, sports, accidents, and casual metaphorical expressions.

Conjugation (illustrative forms): Present indicative: eu machuco; tu machucas; ele/ela machuca; nós machucamos; vocês machucam. Preterite (pretérito perfeito): eu machuquei; tu machucaste; ele machucou; nós machucamos; vocês machucaram. Imperfect: eu machucava; tu machucavas; ele machucava; nós machucávamos; vocês machucavam. Future: eu machucarei; tu machucarás; ele machucará; nós machucaremos; vocês machucarão. Subjunctive present: que eu machuque; que tu machuques; que ele machuque; que nós machuquemos; que vocês machuquem.

Examples: Ela machucou o pé na corrida. O contato físico pode machucar alguém emocionalmente, especialmente com palavras duras. The adjective machucado describes someone who is injured. See also: ferir, lesionar, prejudicar.