Apanhar in Portuguese: Meanings, Translation and Real Examples

If you landed here looking for the apanhar meaning, here's the short answer: in Brazilian Portuguese, apanhar mostly means to get beaten or to take a beating, but it's also used for to pick up, to catch or to grab something. It all depends on context, and that's exactly where a lot of learners get tangled up.

We in Brazil use the verb apanhar all the time. When a mom asks her kid "Você quer apanhar?", she's not offering anything: it's the classic warning right before a spanking. And when someone says "Apanhei muito pra aprender a dirigir", nobody got hit: it means they had a really hard time learning to drive.

So, what does apanhar mean in Portuguese in each situation? In this lesson I'll walk you through every meaning of apanhar in Portuguese, the best apanhar translation for each context, the difference between apanhar and bater, the real meaning behind "quer apanhar" and "vai apanhar" (it's never good news), and other forms you'll hear a lot, like "apanhou" and "apanhando". At the end you'll find example sentences with apanhar and a video so you can practice with real Brazilian pronunciation.

Video: How to use APANHAR in Portuguese (different meanings)

In this video I show you, with real examples, the different meanings of apanhar in Portuguese: from picking something up off the floor to taking a beating or struggling to fix a problem. Watch it first and then go over each sentence below to lock in the context of every use.

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Example sentences with the verb APANHAR in Portuguese

There's no single apanhar translation in English: depending on context it can mean to pick up, to catch, to get beaten, to come down with an illness, to get crushed in a game or to struggle to get something done. Here's each meaning with a sentence just the way we say it in Brazil.

APANHAR (to pick something up)

In this sense, apanhar means to pick something up off the floor, like a napkin or a coin. In Brazil we also use pegar a lot for the same thing, and watch the spelling: even though people in some regions say "panhar", the correct written form is apanhar.

• Você pode apanhar esse guardanapo que caiu no chão?

Learn the 7 different ways to use PEGAR.

APANHAR (to get beaten)

This is the most common meaning of apanhar in Brazil: getting hit or taking a beating. The difference from bater is simple: whoever bate throws the hit, and whoever apanha takes it. That's why "Você quer apanhar?" or "Vai apanhar!" are warnings, a lot like "Do you want a spanking?" in English, sometimes said as a joke between friends and sometimes dead serious coming from a mom.

• Ele apanhou da mãe dele assim que chegou em casa porque se meteu numa briga no colégio.

Learn 27 expressions with the verb BATER in Portuguese.

APANHAR (an illness)

Apanhar also means to catch an illness, like the flu or a stomach bug (what we call a virose). In Brazil you'll more often hear "pegar uma gripe", while in European Portuguese apanhar is the usual choice.

• A família dele inteira apanhou essa virose, tá todo mundo doente.

APANHAR (to get caught)

When someone is "apanhado", it means they got caught doing something, like running from the police or in the middle of a lie. In Brazil you'll also hear "pegar no flagra" a lot, which is our way of saying someone was caught red-handed.

• Saiu nas notícias ontem à noite, ele foi apanhado no aeroporto enquanto tentava fugir do país.

Learn 7 ways to use COLAR.

APANHAR FEIO (to lose badly)

"Apanhar feio" means losing by a landslide or in a humiliating way, especially in soccer. It's our favorite line in Brazil for teasing a rival team, pretty much like saying a team "got crushed" or "got smoked" in English.

• Eu tenho certeza que teu time de futebol vai apanhar feio no jogo de hoje.
• O time dele apanhou feio, perderam de 5x1.

Soccer vocabulary in Portuguese

APANHAR ALGUÉM (to pick someone up)

Apanhar alguém means to pick someone up, for example by car. In Brazil it's more common to say "passar pra te pegar", but apanhar with this meaning is perfectly understood and it's the usual way to say it in Portugal.

• Eu passo por tua casa pra te apanhar ou você vai de táxi e a gente se vê lá na festa?

How to use PEGAR in Portuguese

APANHAR (to struggle to do something)

This one is very Brazilian: "apanhar pra fazer algo" means to struggle, fight your way through or have a really hard time getting something done. If someone tells you "tô apanhando desse exercício", it means the exercise is giving them a hard time, not that somebody is hitting them.

• Caramba, já faz uns 3 dias que tô apanhando pra resolver esse problema no computador e nada, você conhece algum técnico que manje bem de computadores?

A super common expression in Brazil for saying you're going through a really rough time is "passar perrengue".

Bonus Content

As a bonus, here's another verb we Brazilians use a ton on the street that tends to confuse learners, because one of its meanings has nothing to do with what you'd expect.

EMBAÇAR

There are two ways to use the verb EMBAÇAR in Portuguese.

1st Embaçar meaning "to fog up"

In its literal sense, embaçar is when a window or a mirror fogs up from steam or cold, exactly like "to fog up" in English.

• O para-brisa do carro está embaçando, ligue o desembaçador.

2nd Embaçar meaning "to make trouble" over something

In Brazilian slang, embaçar also means to make trouble, complicate things or refuse to let something slide, for example at the door of a party or when dealing with paperwork.

• Acho que se você for vestido desse jeito eles vão embaçar contigo, vi no convite que tem que ser roupa formal.

Several ways to use JEITO.

Quotes and sayings with the verb APANHAR in Portuguese

Apanhar also shows up in motivational quotes, because in Brazil we use it as a metaphor for the hits life throws at you. The most famous one is from Rocky Balboa, and it combines exactly the two verbs you just learned: bater and apanhar.

"A vida não é sobre quão duro você é capaz de bater, mas sobre quão duro você é capaz de apanhar e continuar indo em frente."

- Rocky Balboa

On the Pensador website you'll find more examples with the verb APANHAR.

Write down your favorite sentences in a notebook so you can review the content often.