Recear vs Hesitar: How to Use Them in Everyday Portuguese

Hesitar in Portuguese means to hesitate: to pause or feel unsure right before you make a decision or do something. So if you're wondering what does hesitar mean, the good news is that it works just like the English verb. Recear is the tricky one: it means to fear that something might happen or to feel apprehensive about a situation, and its noun "receio" means fear, apprehension or misgiving. These are two verbs we use a lot here in Brazil, and they often confuse people learning Portuguese.

You'll hear recear a lot through sentences like "estou com receio de falar" (I'm afraid to speak up), which is why the recear meaning is closer to "being wary of" than to a dramatic kind of fear. Hesitar, on the other hand, shows up almost every time in the phrase "qualquer dúvida, não hesite em perguntar", which is how we say "don't hesitate to ask" in Portuguese in emails, customer service chats and classes. So when it comes to the hesitar meaning, hesitar in English is simply "to hesitate". Spelling tip: it's always hesitar, with an H, even though some Brazilians mistakenly write "exitar".

Below I'll explain how to use each verb in everyday Portuguese and give you example sentences with their English translation, plus a video where I walk you through it step by step. That way, the next time a Brazilian ends an email with "não hesite em perguntar", you'll know exactly what they mean, and you'll sound much more natural when you use these words yourself.

Video: How to Use Recear and Hesitar in Portuguese

In this video I show you how to use recear and hesitar in Portuguese with everyday sentences, and how to pronounce them so they sound natural. If you want to polish your accent, I also recommend my guide to improving your Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation.

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Example Sentences to Practice - Hesitar and Recear

The easiest way to tell recear and hesitar apart is to see them in context: recear expresses fear or wariness about something that might happen, and hesitar expresses doubt right before you act. Here are some common sentences with their English translation. And if you also speak some Spanish, these are exactly the kind of words where the two languages drift apart, as I explain in my guide to the differences between Spanish and Portuguese.

Recear / Receio

Recear means to fear or be wary that something bad might happen. The verb recear itself sounds a bit formal, so here in Brazil we almost always use the noun instead: "estar com receio" (to be afraid or apprehensive). If you're looking up the receio meaning, think of receio in English as "fear", "apprehension" or "misgiving". The adjective is "receoso" (wary, apprehensive). It's exactly what many people feel when speaking a new language, so I recommend reading how to overcome the fear of speaking Portuguese.

• Eu percebi que ele tá com receio de se apresentar em público. (I noticed he's afraid of speaking in public.)
• Ele tá receoso de que o avião tenha alguma falha técnica. (He's worried that the plane might have some kind of technical failure.)

Hesitar

Hesitar means to hesitate or waver before doing something, and the most common phrase with this verb is "qualquer dúvida, não hesite em perguntar" (if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask). So the não hesite meaning is simply "don't hesitate". Watch out for the pronunciation: the H is silent and the S between vowels sounds like a Z, so you say "eh-zee-TAR". Review the pronunciation of Portuguese letters.

• Qualquer dúvida, não hesite em perguntar. (If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.)
• Eu vi que ele ia roubar a menina, mas quando viu a moto da polícia ele hesitou. (I saw he was about to rob the girl, but when he saw the police motorcycle, he hesitated.)

Êxito

Êxito in Portuguese means success, and I'm including it here because many Brazilians mix up "hesitar" with "exitar", a word that doesn't exist in Portuguese. The good news for you: "sucesso" also means success, so it's a true friend for English speakers, unlike these tricky false cognates in Portuguese.

In English it's natural to say that someone "is successful", and in Portuguese we usually say "bem-sucedido" or "pessoa de sucesso" rather than using êxito, which sounds more formal.

• Ele teve muito êxito no projeto. (He was very successful with the project.)
• Ele teve muito sucesso no projeto. (He was very successful with the project.)
• Ele fez um ótimo projeto e agora é bem-sucedido em sua carreira. (He did a great project and now he's successful in his career.)
• Ele fez um ótimo projeto e agora é uma pessoa de sucesso em sua carreira. (He did a great project and now he's a successful person in his career.)

Article in Portuguese: Conheça 31 traços das pessoas incrivelmente bem-sucedidas

Be very careful with the pronunciation of HESITAR in Portuguese so you don't end up sounding like you're saying "excitar" (to excite or arouse). I recorded a detailed video about the letter "S".

How to Use Z, S, SS and Ç in Portuguese - Zoar, Suar, Soar

What Does "Tesão" Mean in Portuguese?

The word "tesão" in Portuguese can have different meanings depending on the context. It's often associated with strong sexual desire or arousal, but it can also describe excitement, passion or intensity about something.

The 30 Most Common Expressions in Brazil

In the sexual sense:

• Nossa, só em falar com você já me dá tesão, posso passar por aí na sua casa? (Wow, just talking to you turns me on, can I swing by your place?)
• Ele me falou que terminou o namoro porque já não sentia tesão por ela. (He told me he ended the relationship because he no longer felt any desire for her.)

In the sense of passion for something:

• Que tesão poder comer essa sobremesa sem peso na consciência. (How amazing to be able to eat this dessert guilt-free.)
• Quando você fala de viagens me dá um maior tesão pra arrumar as malas e partir. (When you talk about traveling, I get a huge urge to pack my bags and go.)

Article in Portuguese: O sexo esfriou? Recupere o tesão com essas 5 dicas bem quentes