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"Lastimar" is a transitive verb which is often translated as "to hurt", and "hacer daño" is a transitive verb phrase which is also often translated as "to hurt". Learn more about the difference between "lastimar" and "hacer daño" below.
lastimar(
lahs
-
tee
-
mahr
)A transitive verb is a verb that requires a direct object (e.g., I bought a book.).
1. (physically)
a. to hurt
Lo lastimó cuando le confesó que estaba saliendo con otra persona.She hurt him when she confessed she was dating another person.
lastimarse
A reflexive verb is a verb that indicates that the subject performs an action on itself (e.g., Miguel se lava.).
a. to hurt oneself
Deja de jugar con ese cuchillo. Vas a lastimarte.Stop playing with that knife. You are going to hurt yourself.
hacer daño(
ah
-
sehrr
dah
-
nyoh
)A transitive verb phrase is a phrase that combines a verb with a preposition or other particle and requires a direct object (e.g., take out the trash.).
a. to hurt
Que sepas que lo que me dijiste ayer me hizo mucho daño.Let me tell you that what you said to me yesterday hurt a lot.
b. no direct translation
This refers to an idiomatic word or phrase for which there is no word-for-word translation.
Seguro que tu hermanito solo estaba jugando y no quería hacerte daño.I'm sure your little brother was just playing and didn't mean any harm.
Perdóname, no tenía intención de hacer daño a nadie, pero la situación se me fue de las manos.Please forgive me, I didn't intend any harm to anybody, but the situation got out of hand.
a. to be bad for
No hay forma de convencer a mi hermana de que el tabaco le hace daño.There's no way of convincing my sister that cigarettes are bad for her.
b. to damage
Al parecer ese medicamento puede hacer daño al hígado.It seems that drug can damage the liver.
c. not to agree with (food)
Está claro que los pimientos me hacen daño.Peppers obviously don't agree with me.
a. to cause damage to
Como cabía esperar, la tormenta hizo un daño enorme a la cosecha de este año.As it was to be expected, the storm has caused great damage to this year's crop.
b. to do harm to
Las acusaciones, aunque falsas, hicieron mucho daño a su reputación.The accusations, though false, did a lot of harm to his reputation.
An intransitive verb phrase is a phrase that combines a verb with a preposition or other particle and does not require a direct object (e.g., Everybody please stand up.).
a. to hurt
Ya verás como esta inyección no hace nada de daño.This injection doesn't hurt at all. You'll see.
a. to be bad
Los médicos no se ponen de acuerdo en si un vaso de vino al día hace o no daño.Doctors can't agree whether drinking a glass of wine a day is bad for you or not.
b. to be harmful
Dicen que comer demasiado deprisa puede hacer daño.They say eating too quickly can be harmful.
a. to cause damage
La calumnia puede hacer mucho daño; sobre todo, dentro de una comunidad pequeña como la nuestra.Slander can cause a lot of damage; especially, within a small community like ours.
b. to do harm
En lugar de ayudar, la política adoptada por el gobierno hizo mucho daño.The policy adopted by the government did a lot of harm rather than help.
hacerse daño
A pronominal verb phrase combines a verb with a preposition or other particle and always uses a reflexive pronoun. (e.g., Se dio cuenta del problema.)
a. to hurt oneself
Me hice daño al intentar mover el sofá yo solo.I hurt myself trying to move the couch on my own.
b. to do oneself harm
Obsesionándote así con ella, solo conseguirás hacerte daño a ti mismo.Getting so obsessed about her, you'll only do yourself harm.
a. to hurt
En este deporte, es fácil hacerse daño en la muñeca.It's easy to hurt your wrist playing this sport.
