herir

Senses

1. 1.

   to wound; to injure

   to cause physical harm or injury to someone

2. 2.

   to hurt; to offend

   to cause emotional pain or distress to someone

3. 3.

   to strike; to hit

   to strike or deal a blow to something

Examples

• "El arma hirió al soldado en la pierna."

  The weapon wounded the soldier in the leg.

• "Tus palabras me hirieron mucho."

  Your words hurt me a lot.

• "Una bala hirió al presidente, pero sobrevivió."

  A bullet struck the president, but he survived.

Usage

Herir is a common transitive verb in Spanish. The preterite stem is "hir-" (hirió, hirieron). It can be used literally for physical wounds or figuratively for emotional harm. Note the stress shift in present tense: yo hiero, tú hieres, él hiere (stem-vowel changing verb).