Thread: How do you say 'to hurt somebody'?

Originally Posted by Ambivalence

Hi, I'd like to know how do you say to hurt someone (emotionally)? Can you say 'причинять боль' or maybe 'задевать'?
Thank you!

For the lack of context, I'd translate that as "обидеть".

Originally Posted by Crocodile

For the lack of context, I'd translate that as "обидеть".

I thought "обидеть" would be "to insult" in English, not "to hurt".

Originally Posted by Basil77

I thought "обидеть" would be "to insult" in English, not "to hurt".

I'd say "to insult" is closer to "оскорбить". Both are very close, though, you're right. The phrase I had in mind was: "I didn't want to hurt your feelings." => "Я не хотел тебя обидеть." I'm not a professional translator though, as you know, so my opinion is purely subjective. Perhaps, others on this forum could have a better idea.

I meant it like: "You never hurt me, you never caused me any pain." Like in a love speech. So I thought 'причинять боль' would be appropriate, if it means 'to cause (emotional) pain'?
My translator also says 'обидеть' means to insult, so I don't think that's the verb I'm looking for.